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ENGLISH   FOR 
COMING  AMERICANS 

TEACHER'S   MANUAL 


A  RATIONAL  SYSTEM  FOR  TEACHING 
ENGLISH  TO  FOREIGNERS 


PETER  ROBERTS,   Ph.D, 


ASSOCIATION   PRESS 

New    York  :     347    Madison    Avenue 
1918 


Copyright,  IM^  by  the 
International  Committee  of  Young  Men's 

Christian  Associations  , 

/^  '/■-■  4.(  twcr 


CONTENTS 

PAGE 

Preface 

.          .          .          • 

, 

5 

Chapter  I. 

Three  Guiding  Principles 

. 

9 

II. 

The    Thirty    Lessons    and 

the 

Equipment 

:. 

21 

III. 

Teaching  the  Lesson 

i»: 

33 

IV. 

Action  in  the  Classroom  . 

. 

47 

V. 

Sidelights  in  Teaching     . 

• 

57 

VI. 

Grammar      Lessons      for 

the 

Course 

1, 

67 

VII. 

Reading  and  Writing 

CI 

89 

VIII. 

How  to  Organize  Classes 

(•: 

99 

392682 


PREFACE 

I  I  URING  the  last  five  years  I  have  visited  hun- 
•^""^^  dreds  of  branches  of  the  Young  Men's  Chris- 
tian Associations  in  North  America,  and  cooperated 
with  secretaries  in  organizing  Enghsh  classes  foi 
foreign-speaking  men.  The  system  of  teaching  Eng- 
hsh explained  in  this  manual  has  been  used  wherever 
classes  have  been  organized,  and  the  result  has  been 
gratifying  to  both  teacher  and  pupils.  The  basic 
idea  in  the  system  is  found  in  the  "Art  of  Teaching 
and  Studying  Language"  by  Francois  Gouin.  His 
reasoning  in  defense  of  oral  instruction  as  the  first 
step  in  teaching  boys  a  new  language  is  irrefutable, 
I  have  applied  this  principle  in  the  preparation  of 
lessons  for  aliens  not  familiar  with  the  English  lan- 
guage. Thousands  of  men  have  been  helped  by  the 
system  to  a  knowledge  of  our  speech  and  the  number 
of  men  now  organized  into  classes  in  North  America 
studying  the  language  by  it,  is  not  far  from  20,000 
The  merits  of  the  system  are : 

1.  A  man  who  knows  nothing  of  the  language  ot 
the  foreigner  can  use  it  and  produce  results. 

2.  The  foreigner  will  learn  to  think  in  English 
and  not  translate  from  his  mother  tongue. 

3.  He  will  learn  English  after  the  same  mannei 
as  he  learnt  his  mother  tongue. 

4.  The  lessons  are  prepared  for  adults  and  deal 
with  experiences  of  daily  life,  which  are  clothed  in  a 
new  garment  of  language. 


I 


6        ENGLISH  FOR  COMING  AMERICANS 

5.  No  matter  what  the  mother  tongue  of  the  for- 
eigner is,  the  system  is  appHcable  to  all.  It  is  used 
by  men  of  forty-two  different  tongues  and  it  works 
equally  well  with  the  Chinaman  as  the  Italian,  with 
the  Finn  as  the  Armenian. 

6.  Its  simplicity.  A  child  of  ten  has  used  it 
effectively  to  teach  a  domestic  the  English  language. 

7.  It  is  full  of  action  and  a  teacher  of  ordinary 
ability  need  not  have  a  tedious  moment  in  the  class- 
room. 

8.  The  students  begin  to  talk  the  very  first  lesson. 
They  leave  the  classroom  knowing  some  English,  and 
every  time  they  meet  they  get  something  new. 

9.  Each  lesson  is  arranged  according  to  the  laws 
of  mnemonics,  so  that  the  least  possible  strain  is 
placed  on  the  memory  and  the  student  is  able  to  con- 
centrate his  attention  on  right  pronunciation  and 
enunciation. 

10.  It  appeals  to  the  practical  judgment  of 
foreign-speaking  men,  for  they  see  that  the  English 
taught  them  is  such  as  they  can  use  every  day  in  the 
experiences  of  life. 

The  course  outlined  in  this  book  is  for  beginners. 
It  is  designed  for  men  who  cannot  form  a  sentence 
with  any  degree  of  facility  and  accuracy  in  the  Eng- 
lish language.  Many  aliens  learn  a  few  words  of 
English  soon  after  they  land,  but  they  cannot  form 
a  sentence.  For  these  men  the  thirty  lessons  are  pre- 
pared, and  the  prime  purpose  is  to  teach  them  how  to 
talk  our  language.  Reading  and  writing  are  also 
taught,  but  the  main  purpose  of  the  course  is  to  help 
the  foreigner  to  a  talking  knowledge  of  English. 


PREFACE  7 

The  course  comprises  thirty  lessons:  ten  on  the 
home  life,  ten  on  the  work  life,  and  ten  on  the  busi- 
ness life  of  men.  The  words  used  are  those  heard  on 
the  street  and  in  the  shop,  in  the  mill  and  in  the  mart, 
and  the  student  who  will  do  good  work  will  have  more 
than  a  thousand  English  words  at  his  command  at 
the  close  of  the  thirty  lessons,  which  will  stand  him  in 
good  stead  in  his  life  in  the  new  world. 

Two  other  graded  courses  follow  this.  Foreigners 
who  have  mastered  the  thirty  lessons  in  preparatory 
English  should  be  encouraged  to  go  on  to  perfection 
and  not  to  cease  their  effort  until  they  are  able  to 
speak,  read  and  write  the  English  language  with  ease 
and  accuracy.  Men  who  will  conscientiously  follow 
the  courses  prepared  will  acquire  this  proficiency, 
and,  in  the  work  of  attaining  it,  they  will  have  learnt 
much  about  their  country  and  what  it  can  do  for 
them. 


CHAPTER  I 
THREE  GUIDING  PRINCIPLES 

L^  ACH  generation  of  men,  with  equal  ease,  ac- 
-*— ■  quires  command  over  its  mother  tongue.  A 
hundred  Pohsh  children,  in  their  fourth  year,  speak 
the  Polish  language  as  fluently  and  accurately  as  a 
hundred  American  children,  of  the  same  age,  speak 
English.  The  youths  of  every  nation  possess  equal 
capacity  to  acquire  their  mother  tongue.  This  is  not 
a  thing  of  chance.  The  power  of  speech  is  not  in- 
herited. Each  person  must  attain  it  by  training  and 
practice.  But  the  uniform  capacity  of  children  to 
learn  the  speech  of  the  home,  no  matter  how  difficult 
that  language  may  appear  to  adults,  suggests  the 
efficiency  of  the  equipment  wherewith  nature  does  the 
work  and  here,  as  elsewhere,  nature  acts  according 
to  law.  The  equipment  nature  freely  gives  each 
child  to  learn  a  language  with  has  not  been  lost  by 
man,  and  the  laws  by  which  language  is  built  up  in 
the  mind  are  still  active  everywhere.  If  this  be  true, 
the  inference  is  apparent.  Every^^foreign-tongue^i 
individual  coming  to  our  shores  has  the  capacity_jo^ 
learn_J3Ai^3frftguage'lfjg:Sg^^^tliI^^  so 

and  the  task  can  be  more  easily  accomplisned  if  we 
follow  those  laws  which  regulate  the  operation  of  the 
mind  in  the  quest  for  knowledge.  P^r  first  duty  then 
is  to  find  out  how  language  is  attained  by  nature's 
gifts. 


10       ENGLISH  FOR  COMING  AMERICANS 


FIRST 

Did  you  ever  see  a  child  learning  its  mother 
tongue  from  a  book?  Did  you  use  a  book  when 
you  learned  to  speak  the  language  of  the  home? 
Long  before  you  read  a  word  on  the  printed  page, 
or  wrote  a  word  on  paper,  you  fluently  and  accu- 
rately spoke.  Before  you  knew  that  there  was 
such  a  thing  as  A,  B,  C ;  or  that  there  were  any 
such  things  in  life  as  syllables,  grammar  and  dic- 
tionary, you  enjoyed  the  power  of  speech  and  com- 
municated by  means  of  language  with  those  who 
loved  you  tenderly.  And  during  these  years  you 
used  words  accurately,  although  you  could  not  de- 
fine a  single  word  if  any  one  asked  you  to  do  so. 
And  the  vast  majority  of  men  carry  on  their  daily 
conversation  without  consulting  Webster  or  Worces- 
ter, or  reading  a  treatise  on  the  synonyms  of  the 
English  language.  Of  course  these  people  don't 
talk  book  language.  They  use  speech  as  they  use 
currency.  They  find  it  at  hand  and  use  it,  asking 
no  questions  about  its  intrinsic  nature.  And  they 
get  along  fairly  well  in  the  home,  in  work,  and  in 
business. 

How  is  this  done?  What  is  the  door  through 
which  this  knowledge  passes  into  the  mind?  What 
genius  presides  over  the  right  use  of  words  and 
grammatical  forms,  so  that  the  majority  of  men 
get  along  well  without  grammar  and  dictionary? 
The  door  is  the  ear;  the  genius  is  common  usage. 

The  ears  are  the  receptive  organs  of  language. 
They   enabled   you   to   learn   your   mother   tongue. 


THREE  GUIDING  PRINCIPLES  11 

The  language  of  the  home  passed  into  the  soul 
through  these  doors  and  awoke  it  to  love,  duty  and 
honor.  They  registered  the  sounds  accurately  and 
presided  over  the  attempt  of  the  organs  of  speech 
to  reproduce  them.  The  ears  discharge  this  func- 
tion so  accurately  that  the  peculiarities  of  speech  in 
every  home  are  reflected  in  the  accent  of  each  child 
reared  therein. 

And  what  is  language?  Is  it  anything  more  than 
a  combination  of  certain  sounds  which  men  have 
agreed  to  make  the  channel  whereby  ideas  and  feel- 
ings may  be  communicated  from  one  to  the  other? 
Mechanically  considered,  it  is  atmospheric  vibration' 
conveying  to  us  certain  ideas  through  the  organs  of 
hearing — the  ears.  Have  you  listened  to  two  men 
speaking  in  an  unknown  tongue?  All  you  hear  is  a 
combination  of  sounds.  There  may  be  feeling  or 
passion  in  the  voices,  but  you  discern  it  only  by  the 
intensity  of  the  sounds  you  hear.  This  is  the  secret 
of  the  talking  machine.  It  records  sound  or  the 
vibration  of  the  air  caused  by  the  instruments  in 
close  proximity  to  it.  The  diff*erence  between  the 
talking  machine  and  the  human  voice  is  that  back 
of  the  one  is  cold  steel ;  back  of  the  other  is  a  living 
soul.  Both  affect  the  hearer  through  the  same 
medium — the  ear,  but  the  one  does  so  by  a  cold 
metallic  ring,  the  other  by  the  living  voice,  which  in 
its  accent  and  inflection  penetrates  into  the  deep 
recesses  of  the  human  soul  as  no  other  medium  can. 
Yes,  it  is  the  voice  of  parental  love,  acting  upon 
nature's  wonderful  mechanism — the  ear,  that  elicits 
the  response  of  afl^ection  in  the  soul  of  its  offspring. 


12       ENGLISH  FOR  COMING  AMERICANS 

And  the  coming  of  thousands  of  foreign-speaking 
men  and  women  to  our  country  each  year  affords  us 
opportunity  to  perform  this  miracle  in  thousands  of 
instances  if  we  trust  the  ear  and  speak  to  these  men 
in  accents  of  sympathy  and  affection. 

Tlj£.  first  audi  f oi:eBfto»fe>jirinciple^  then,  in  teaching 
the  Enghsh  language  to  foreigners  is  to  trust  the 
^^MTT-  Don't  begin  the  task  by  giving  the  pupil  'a 
'book  from  which  to  learn  his  A,  B,  C.  Don't  give 
him  a  reader  and  ask  him  to  spell  out  laboriously  the 
monosyllables,  c-a-t,  b-a-d,  m-a-d;  and  then  pass  on 
to  dissyllables,  har-row,  sor-row,  etc.  Don't  ask 
him  to  buy  a  grammar  and  a  dictionary  and  begin 
his  studies  by  translating  sentences  into  his  native 
tongue  and  vice  versa.  No  one  ever  got  practical 
knowledge  of  a  language  in  that  way.  I  have  known 
scores  of  students  who  have  studied  modern  lan- 
guages in  that  manner,  but  when  their  power  to 
converse  in  any  of  them  is  tested,  it  is  found  want- 
ing. I  know  a  gentleman  who,  having  taught  German 
for  many  years  in  one  of  our  colleges,  was  ludi- 
crously put  out  of  countenance  when  in  his  travels 
he  tried  to  talk  that  language.  The  professor  was 
in  Germany  and  he  asked  a  simple  question  of  a 
domestic ;  she  looked  at  him  seriously  and  then  said, 
"I  can  only  speak  German."  A  child  of  four  years, 
raised  in  a  German  home,  would  have  fared  much 
better.  Men  who  read  French  authors  with  ease  are 
at  sea  when  they  come  to  express  their  simplest 
wants  in  that  language.  It  is  the  penalty  they  pay 
for  learning  a  language  contrary  to  the  suggestion 
of  nature.     '^b^y_Jl3i^^  "^*^d  the  eye  instead-^£J;he  ^ 


THREE  GUIDING  PRINCIPLES  13 

£aj^  They  have  gone  to  books  rather  than  to  the 
hving  voice.  They  have  sought  in  grammar  and  dic- 
tionary what  can  only  be  acquired  by  daily  con- 
versation and  practice.  a/j 
Hence,  trust  the  ear.  Let  not  the  pupil  see  a  ^-^^ 
word  before  he  first  hears  it  from  the  teacher.  He 
should  not  write  a  word  before  he  can  accurately 
reproduce  it.  Train  the  ear  to  hear  and  the  tongue 
to  talk  before  the  eye  and  the  hand  are  enhsted  in 
the  work  of  learning  a  language.  Follow  this  rule 
religiously  and  you  will  find  your  reward. 

SECOND 

The  pupils  will  get  correct  pronunciation,  accu- 
rate use  of  practical  English,  correct  idioms,  and 
grammatical  forms  b^jjractice.  Book  learning  may 
be  stored  away  in  the  mind,'  but  unless  it  is  daily 
called  into  practice  it  is  of  little  use.  The  con- 
ventional forms  of  language  can  be  learned  only  by 
conversation.  Common  usage  sanctions  hundreds  of 
expressions  which  the  learned  taboo,  but  which  serve 
as  mediums  of  communication  between  man  and  man 
in  the  home,  in  the  workshop,  and  in  the  business 
office.  The  man  who  tries  to  get  a  knowledge  of  the 
English  language  from  books  will  fare  no  better  than 
scores  of  Americans  who  have  studied  modern  lan- 
guages and  are  unable  to  communicate  their  wants 
in  those  languages.  The  foreigners  are  moving  and 
living  in  the  common  walks  of  life,  they  want  the  lan- 
guage of  daily  life  and,  in  the  fullest  sense,  they  can 
appreciate  this  new  world  only  when  they  can  use 
and  understand  the  expressions  daily  used  by  men 


14      ENGLISH  FOR  COMING  AMERICANS 

'  with  whom  they  associate.  Our  second  guiding  prin- 
ciple, then,  in  the  task  before  us,  is_tfl^ve  t)^esemen 
such  lessons  a^  c^me  within  the  range  of  their  daily 

1  experience  and  such  as  contain  wprds~'and  expres- 
sions op^marily  used. 

le  foreigners  are  often  referred  to  as  illiterate 
and  ignorant.  This  is  the  condition  of  the  majority 
of  them.  Their  illiteracy,  however,  is  not  so  great 
as  to  interfere  with  their  capacity  to  converse  freely 
of  the  things  of  daily  life  in  their  native  tongue. 
What  they  see  and  hear  daily  they  speak  of  with 
great  facility.  They  have  clothed  the  experiences 
of  daily  life  in  the  garb  of  language,  and  their 
greatest  need  is  to  clothe  anew  their  ideas  and  ex- 
periences in  the  language  of  the  land  of  their 
adoption. 

Experience  proves  that  if  we  take  the  simple  prac- 
tices with  which  each  foreigner  is  familiar;  put 
these  into  simple  English  phrases,  such  as  are  of 
common  use;  then  train  these  men  in  these  new  com- 
binations of  sound,  they  will  rapidly  and  with  in- 
terest attain  a  knowledge  of  English  that  will 
greatly  help  them  in  the  home,  in  work,  and  in 
business.  The  plan  herein  described  provides  for 
the  use  of  ideas  with  which  they  are  familiar,  and 
for  the  training  of  their  ears  so  that  they  will 
understand  the  new  channel  for  the  communica- 
tion of  those  ideas.  If  this  is  faithfully  done,  the 
foreigner  will  soon  have  at  his  command  a  supply  of 
words  and  phrases  that  will  enrich  his  life  and  be  the 
porch  through  which  he  can  enter  the  larger  and 
higher  life  of  America. 


THREE  GUIDING  PRINCIPLES  15 

Thus,  the  second  rule  to  be  remembered  is,  that 
our  point  of  contact  is  the  daily  experience  of  the 
foreigner.  This  we  must  clothe  anew  in  an  Eng- 
lish garment,  using  the  language  of  daily  life  so  as 
to  bring  him  as  soon  as  possible  into  touch  with  the 
world  around  him  whereby  he  may  learn  the  con- 
ventional combinations  of  our  tongue  more  accu- 
rately than  by  the  study  of  books,  grammar  and 
dictionary. 

THIRD 

Nature  works  or.derli(  and  the  mechanism  of  the 
brain  is  as  subject  to  law  when  one  is  acquiring  the 
knowledge  of  language  as  it  is  in  every  other  de- 
partment of  its  activity.  All  men  are  logicians 
although  they  may  know  nothing  of  logic.  The 
process  of  language  building  in  the  mind  of  the 
child  is  presided  over  by  laws  as  imperious  as  those 
which  govern  the  building  of  coral  reefs  in  the  deep. 
If  these  laws  were  closely  followed,  the  process  of 
teaching  English  to  foreigners  would  be  greatly 
facilitated  and  the  burden  placed  upon  the  memory 
would  be  largely  obviated. 

Let  the  reader  try  to  memorize  the  following: 
"So  she  went  into  the  garden  to  cut  a  cabbage  leaf 
to  make  an  apple  pie;  and  at  the  same  time  a  great 
she-bear,  coming  up  the  street,  pops  its  head  into 
the  shop.  What,  no  soap  ?  So  he  died,  and  she  was 
imprudently  married  to  the  barber;  and  there  were 
present  the  Picininunions,  and  the  Joblilies,  and  the 
Garules    and    the    great    Panjandrum   himself,  with 


16       ENGLISH  FOR  COMING  AMERICANS 

the  little  round  button  on  the  top;  and  they  all  fell 
to  playing  'catch  as  catch  can'  till  the  gunpowder 
ran  out  of  the  heels  of  their  boots." — Upham's  Men- 
tal Philosophy,  quoted  hy  Professor  White. 

But  how  easily  can  the  following  be  memorized: 

"Fourscore  and  seven  years  ago  our  fathers 
brought  forth  upon  this  continent  a  new  nation,  con- 
ceived in  liberty,  and  dedicated  to  the  proposition 
that  all  men  are  created  equal.  Now  we  are  engaged 
in  a  great  civil  war,  testing  whether  that  nation,  or 
any  nation  so  conceived  and  so  dedicated,  can  long 
endure.  We  are  met  on  a  great  battlefield  of  that 
war.  Wfe  have  come  to  dedicate  a  portion  of  that 
field  as  a  final  resting  place  for  those  who  here  gave 
their  lives  that  that  nation  might  live.  It  is  alto- 
gether fitting  and  proper  that  we  should  do  this." — 
Lincoln^ s  Gettysburg  Address. 

Wherein  lies  the  difference  between  these  two  selec- 
tions? The  first  disregards  every  law  of  nature 
and  consequently  must  defy  the  strongest  memory, 
if  carried  to  any  great  length;  the  second  presents 
a  picture  so  natural  and  orderly  that  each  sentence 
is  associated  with  what  went  before  and  with  what 
comes  after,  so  that  the  memory  and  imagination 
are  impressed  and  the  ideas  can  readily  be  recalled. 

Suppose  we  teach  the  foreigner  English  by  giving 
him  a  dozen  disconnected  words  to  memorize,  or  by 
giving  him  a  dozen  phrases  wholly  unrelated  and 
pertaining  to  as  many  subj  ects ;  would  not  such  a 
system  be  as  difficult  to  memorize  as  is  the  first  quo- 
tation given  above,  and  precisely  for  the  same  rea- 
son?    But  take  for  the  subject  a  familiar  section  of 


THREE  GUIDING  PRINCIPLES  17 

daily  experience  and  let  the  body  of  the  lesson  de- 
scribe the  series  of  acts  normally  included  in  that 
part  of  the  pupil's  day,  each  sentence  carrying  him 
one  step  farther  in  perfect  chronological  order. 
Will  not  such  a  lesson  be  easily  memorized?  In  this 
way  sentence  after  sentence  is  inalienably  associated 
with  others  in  a  relation  of  cause  and  effect  or  they 
are  bound  together  by  contiguity  in  time  or  place, 
so  that  one  suggests  the  other  and  bears  a  part  in 
one  unbroken  catenation.  What  foreigner  would 
not  find  such  a  lesson  easily  remembered?  And  the 
reason  is  that  in  its  formation  we  obey  natural  laws. 
No  one  doubts  this,  and  it  is  the  rule  by  which  each 
lesson  in  this  course  is  formed.  The  laws  governing 
the  action  of  the  mind  are  followed,  and  we  feel  con- 
fident that  the  more  closely  they  are  observed  the 
more  interesting  will  be  the  lessons  and  the  more 
rapid  will  be  the  progress  of  the  pupil. 

In  this  connection,  we  should  remember  that  na- 
ture is  one  and  is  not  divided.  If  the  lessons  in 
their  make-up  are  true  to  natural  law  they  will  be 
easily  remembered  not  only  by  the  American,  but  also 
by  every  other  human  being.  The  Pole  and  the 
Lett,  the  Italian  and  the  Greek,  the  Chinaman  and 
the  Japanese  will  also  be  aided  by  the  arrangement 
if  any  of  them  should  learn  the  English  language  by 
this  system.  The  reason  for  this  is  apparent.  God 
made  of  one  blood  all  nations  of  the  earth.  The 
thinking  mechanism  of  every  nation  is  constructed 
after  the  same  pattern.  Few  of  the  thousands  of 
foreigners  in  North  America  can  tell  what  the  prin- 
ciple of  cause  and  effect  means,  but  they  daily  act 


/ 


18       ENGLISH  FOR  COMING  AMERICANS 

according  to  this  and  other  laws  of  logical  connec- 
tion. Thousands  of  these  wage-earners  in  mine  and 
mill,  factory  and  shop,  compare  and  contrast 
things.  One  thing  constantly  suggests  another  to 
their  minds  and  they  act  and  live  with  the  law  of 
contiguity  in  place  and  time;  but  they  are  wholly 
oblivious  to  the  fact  that  they  thereby  obey  funda- 
mental laws  which  rule  mental  operation  everywhere 
as  rigorously  as  does  gravitation  the  stars.  Yes, 
we  may  say  that,  without  exception,  this  reign  of 
law  is  as  universal  as  the  operation  of  the  human 
mind.  Hence,  we  can  confidently  deduce  the  follow- 
ing practical  proposition;  that  the  lessons  which 
aid  the  memory  of  Americans  will  also  aid  the  mem- 
ory of  Poles,  Italians,  Chinese,  etc.  In  this  as  in 
other  spheres,  "one  touch  of  nature  makes  the 
whole  world  kin." 

Thus,  the  third  principle  to  guide  us  in  this  work 
is,  that  the  lessons  must  obey  natural  law.  A  hap- 
hazard, disconnected,  unrelated  group  of  words  and 
sentences  must  end  in  tedium,  discouragement,  and 
despair.  Such  an  effort  is  irrational  and  abortive. 
Follow  nature,  and  the  stars  in  their  courses  will  fight 
for  you.  Give  all  possible  aids  to  the  memory  and 
when  the  strain  upon  it  is  reduced  to  a  minimum,  the 
student  will  be  better  able  to  concentrate  his  mind 
upon  getting  the  correct  sound  of  the  new  language 
and  in  reproducing  what  he  has  heard.  In  this  way 
the  lessons  will  be  a  pleasure,  the  progress  of  the 
student  rapid,  and  he  will  be  conscious  that  each 
time  he  comes  to  the  classroom  he  is  getting  some- 


THREE  GUIDING  PRINCIPLES  19 

thing  he   can   immediately   apply   in   the   affairs   of 
daily  life. 

Let  us  summarize  the  ground  thus  far  traversed: 

Each    generation    of    men    learns    joyously    and 

easily  its  mother  tongue.     A  study  of  how  this  is 

done  gives  us  three  principles  whereby  we  may  be 

guided  in  teaching  English  to  foreigners. 

1.  Trust  the  ear,  the  receptive  organ  of  lan- 
guage. The  eye  can  aid  and  so  can  the  hand,  but 
it  is  contrary  to  nature  to  try  to  learn  a  language 
by  those  senses.  The  pupil  must  not  see  a  word  be- 
fore he  knows  how  to  pronounce  it,  he  must  not 
write  it  until  he  can  reproduce  it  viva  voce. 

9>.  Find  your  point  of  contact  in  the  daily  ex- 
perience of  the  foreigner,  and  lead  him  as  speedily 
as  possible  into  touch  with  the  language  of  daily  life, 
for  thus  only  will  he  be  able  to  get  practical  knowl- 
edge of  English  that  will  serve  him  in  good  stead  in 
the  affairs  of  life. 

3.  Remember  that  the  minds  of  all  men  operate 
in  accordance  with  the  same  natural  laws.  The  les- 
sons should  follow  these  laws  as  faithfully  as  possi- 
ble, for  thus  we  hope  to  relieve  the  tension  on  the 
memory  and  enable  the  student  to  concentrate  his 
attention  upon  getting  correct  pronunciation  and 
correct  enunciation. 

These  three  principles  we  hope  to  apply  in  the 
following  pages. 


CHAPTER  II 

THE  THIRTY  LESSONS  AND  THE 
EQUIPMENT 

HE    course    herein    proposed    is    known    as    a 
course  in  preparatory  English. 
The  total  equipment  is  as  follows: 

rpi  .  .     1  r  Ten  known  as  the  Domestic  Series. 

.     1     fl  J.  f        \  Ten  known  as  the  Industrial  Series. 
I  Ten  known  as  the  Commercial  Series. 

2.  A  set  of  large  charts  (20"  x  30")  for  the  Domestic 
Series_,  for  reading  exercise  and  review  practice. 

3.  Sets   of   cards    for   the    Industrial   and    Commercial 
Series^  for  practice  in  conversation, 

4.  Examinations. 

1.     The  Lessons 

The  words  and  phrases  in  the  first  ten  lessons 
pertain  to  the  sphere  of  the  home.  They  describe 
the  experiences  common  to  all  peoples  reared  in  the 
customs  of  our  western  civilization.  The  lessons  are 
as  follows: 

THE  DOMESTIC  SERIES  (A) 


1. 

Getting     up     in     the 

6. 

Eating  Breakfast. 

Morning. 

7. 

The  Man  Washing. 

2. 

Getting    Wood    to 

S. 

A  Family  of  Eight. 

Light  the  Fire. 

9. 

Welcoming    a    Vis- 

3. 

Lighting  the  Fire. 

itor. 

4. 

Preparing  Breakfast. 

10. 

Going  to  Bed. 

5. 

Table  Utensils. 

22       ENGLISH  FOR  COMING  AMERICANS 

The  second  series  describes  experiences  in  the  in- 
dustrial world.  In  these  lessons  we  depict  common 
everyday  events,  being  careful  to  avoid  so  minute  a 
description  of  operation  as  to  make  the  lessons  ap- 
plicable only  to  local  groups.  Our  aim  has  been  to 
meet  the  need  of  thousands  who  have  common  expe- 
rience in  industrial  life.  Most  of  these  lessons  are 
appropriate  to  all  industrial  classes,  but  the  need  of 
special  groups  should  also  be  met.  This  is  true  of 
those  employed  in  the  mining  industry.  Thousands 
of  foreign-speaking  men  work  in  dangerous  places  in 
the  mines  and  their  prime  need  is  to  learn  simple 
words  and  phases  descriptive  of  their  daily  voca- 
tion. Hence,  in  order  to  meet  this  need,  we  have 
arranged  a  group  of  lessons  pertaining  especially  to 
mining,  and  yet  in  preparing  these  we  refrain  from 
entering  into  such  minute  details  as  to  make  them 
of  local  interest  only.  The  lessons  in  mining  are 
equally  applicable  to  men  working  in  the  hard  coal 
and  in  the  soft  coal  seams;  they  can  be  used  in  the 
mining  villages  on  the  Pacific  Coast,  where  the 
Chinese  and  the  Japanese  labor,  as  well  as  in  the 
mining  patches  of  Pennsylvania,  where  the  Slavs  and 
Letts  work. 

Lessons  can  be  prepared  to  meet  the  special  need 
of  any  group  of  foreign-speaking  men,  providing 
they  are  numerous  enough  to  justify  their  prepara- 
tion. The  system  is  plastic  and  can  be  adapted  to 
the  need  of  any  group  of  industrial  workers.  A 
series  of  lessons  has  been  prepared  for  mill  workers 
which  applies  to  all  the  textile  industries.  The  teacher 
who  has  constructive  ability  will  be  able  to  prepare 


LESSONS  AND  EQUIPMENT 


23 


lessons  to  meet  the  local  situation.  The  ten  lessons 
prepared  in  this  group  will  meet  the  need  of  foreign- 
speaking  wage-earners  generally.  Samples  of  other 
lessons  marked  in  this  series  are  given  below.  The 
teacher  should  study  his  groups,  and  select  from  the 
Industrial  Series  those  lessons  which  best  suit  his 
purpose.  The  following  are  the  lessons  prepared  in 
this  series  :* 

THE  INDUSTRIAL  SERIES  (B) 


1. 

Going  to  Work. 

7. 

A  Man  Quitting  his 

2. 

Beginning  the  Day's 

Work. 

Work. 

8. 

A  Man  Looking  for 

3. 

Shining  Shoes. 

Work. 

4. 

A    Miner    Going    to 

9. 

A   Man   Injured   at 

Work. 

Work. 

5. 

A   Man   Working   on 

10. 

Finishing  the  Day's 

the  Railroad. 

r| 

6. 

A    Man    Working   in 

the  Mill. 

Other  Lessons 

in  Series  B 

FOR  MINE  WORKERS 

1. 

Going    Down    the 

5. 

Cleaning  and  Load- 

Shaft. 

ing  Coal. 

2. 

The  Miner  Going  to 

6. 

The  Miner  Drilling 

his  Chamber. 

a  Hole. 

3. 

Standing   a    Prop    in 

7. 

The   Miner   Prepar- 

the Mines. 

ing  a  Cartridge. 

4. 

Guarding  Against 

8. 

Fixing  and  Firing  a 

Fire. 

Shot. 

*Other  lessons  are  being  prepared  from  which  teachers  may  choose 
to  meet  the  requirements  of  their  classes.  A  complete  list  of  lessons 
will  be  forwarded  to  any  address  on  applicatiop- 


24       ENGLISH  FOR  COMING  AMERICANS 

FOR  MILL  WORKERS 

1.  The    Weaver    Going  6.     The  Cotton  Spinner 

to  Work.  Begins  Work. 

2.  Changing    the    Bob-  7.     Changing   the   Bob- 

bin in  the  Loom.  bins. 

3.  Securing      a      New  8.     Accidents       in 

Supply    of    Filled  Worsted       Spin- 

Bobbins,  ning. 

4.  The    Thread    Breaks  9.     Changing   the   Rov- 

in  the  Loom.  ing  Bobbin. 

5.  Saturday      in      the  10.     The   Yarn   Boys   at 

Mill.  Work. 

The  third  series  describes  experiences  common  to 
all  workers,  hence  this  course  is  uniform  for  all 
classes.  The  relation  of  the  average  manual  worker 
to  the  commercial  and  business  world  is  restricted, 
but  the  comfort  and  sometimes  the  happiness  of  the 
foreign-speaking  depend  upon  their  ability  to  un- 
derstand A^  to  use  the  few  necessary  English 
words.  Tnese  lessons  describe  the  acts  which  for- 
eigners in  a  strange  land  daily  perform.  When 
they  are  mastered  the  pupils  will  be  able  to  transact 
their  business  outside  the  narrow  circle  of  places 
controlled  by  men  conversant  with  their  language. 
Shrewd  business  men  of  foreign  birth  often  take  ad- 
vantage of  the  foreigner's  ignorance.  Give  him  a 
knowledge  of  English  so  that  he  can  transact  his 
business  and  the  fraud  of  shysters  will  decrease. 

The  following  are  the  lessons  prepared : 

THE  COMMERCIAL  SERIES  (C) 

1.  Writing  a  Letter.  3.     Going  to  the  Station. 

2.  Buying     and     Using  4.     Taking  the  Train. 

Stamps.  5.     Pay  Day. 


LESSONS  AND  EQUIPMENT 


25 


6.  Home  Expenses. 

7.  >^  Buying  a  Hat.— 

8.  Taking  Money  to  the 

Bank. 


9.     Sending      Money 
Home. 
10.     Buying  a  Lot. 


The  following  is  the  first  lesson.  We  will  now 
show  how  it  is  developed.  The  topic  is  "Getting  up 
in  the  Morning" ;  the  seventeen  sentences  develop  the 
means  used  to  realize  this  end. 


FIRST  LESSON 
Getting  up  in  the  Morning 


awake 

:     I  awake  from  sleep. 

open 
look 

:     I  open  my  eyes. 

:     I  look  for  my  watch. 

find 

:     I  find  my  watch. 

see 

:     I  see  what  time  it  is. 

is 

•     It  is  six  o'clock. 

must  get  up 
throw  back 

.     I  must  get  up. 

I  throw  back  the  bed-clothes. 

get  out 

I  get  out  of  bed. 

put  on 
put  on 
wash 
comb 

I  put  on  my  pants. 

I  put  on  my  stockings  and  shoes 

I  wash  myself. 

I  comb  my  hair. 

put  on 
put  on 
open 
go  down 

I  put  on  my  collar  and  necktie. 
I  put  on  my  vest  and  coat. 
I  open  the  door  of  my  bedroom. 
I  go  down  stairs. 

The  lesson  is  developed  after  this  manner.  In 
getting  up  in  the  morning  what  are  the  successive 
steps  we  take.?  Are  they  not  the  following.?  (1) 
We  awake,  (2)  we  look  to  see  the  time  of  day,  (3) 


26       ENGLISH  FOR  COMING  AMERICANS 

we  get  out  of  bed,  (4)  we  dress  and  (5)  we  go  down 
stairs.  The  above  lesson  follows  this  order  and  de- 
scribes in  greater  detail  the  various  acts  in  the  or- 
der given.  This  gives  us  sentence  after  sentence  in 
chronological  order,  thusjnaking  of  the  wholeo£era- 
tion  a  logical  chainjaf  acts  whlcK  can  be  ^asilj^-^e.- 
membereSTHy'any  man  of  average  intelligence.  Try 
it  and  prove  how  quickly  you  can  assimilate  the  les- 
son. Bear  in  mind  the  five  successive  steps,  then 
read  the  lesson  through  slowly  twice  pr  three  times, 
and  you  can  recite  it  verbatim  without  looking  at 
the  page. 

Every  lesson  is  constructed  after  the  same  man- 
ner. The  J^jtl^  may  be  ,said  to  be  jthe  eujal  to  be 
reached ;  the^bodv,  the  nififlj^^used  ^jj^reach  tl^at  end.^ 
Each  sentence  follows  the  other  in  logical  sequence. 
Each  depicts  in  order  the  successive  steps  you  or 
any  other  rational  being  take  in  the  execution  of  the 
task.  Let  your  imagination  dwell  upon  the  topic 
given  in  any  lesson.  Ask  yourself,  "What  must  I 
do  to  reach  this  end?"  and  you  find  your  imagination 
placing  you  successively  in  exactly  the  situations 
the  lesson  sets  forth.  That  is  the  reason  each  one  of 
the  lessons  is  so  easily  memorized,  and  the  foreign- 
speaking  pupil  will  find  the  matter  equally  easy  to 
assimilate  if  he  exercises  his  imagination,  and  sees 
himself  passing  from  step  to  step  in  the  execution 
of  the  task.  But  some  one  says,  "You  cannot  get  the 
foreigner  to  exercise  his  imagination";  then  it  re- 
mains for  you  to  quicken  it  by  acting  out  the  lesson. 
Let  your  imagination  guide  you  in  all  your  teaching 
so  that  each  step  will  not  only  be  described  in  your 


LESSONS  AND  EQUIPMENT  27 

words,  but  also  seen  in  apposite  gesture.  Suit  the 
action  to  the  word,  and  the  class  will  know  what  you 
want  to  teach  although  they  do  not  understand  all 
the  words  you  use.  Each  pupil  will  soon  associate  the 
phrase  with  the  action  and  learn  the  meaning  of  the 
combination  of  sounds  he  hears. 

Then,  as  far  as  possible,  brijig^_the^^articles  of  / 
which  you  speak  into  the  classroom.  Play  your  part  ( 
with  these  implements.  Execute,  wherever  you  can 
before  the  whole  class,  each  successive  step  described 
in  the  lesson.  In  this  way,  if  you  act  the  part  well 
and  speak  plainly,  never  hurrying  and  never  impa- 
tient, the  class  that  is  wholly  foreign  in  tongue  will 
soon  comprehend  your  meaning  and  begin  to  talk 
and  understand  the  English  tongue. 

Each  lesson  in  the  series  deals  with  Qoncrete  reali-  / 
ties.  Every  lessQii  describes  an  experience  in  daily_  \ 
life  which  may,  with  little  trouble,  bfi^-fuU^L-fiJiacted 
beloxE^-therctas^.  The  objects  referred  to  are  acces- 
sible and,  in  miniature  form,  can  be  brought  into  the 
classroom.  Let  the  classroom  be  a  microcosm,  and 
the  pupils  will  be  better  able  to  play  their  part  in 
the  macrocosm  wherein  they  move  and  act. 

The  teacher  will  also  observe  that  the  lesson  is 
divided  into  three  parts.  This  is  done  to  facilitate 
the  work  of  the  teacher  and  to  aid  the  pupil.  It  is 
not  wise  to  take  too  big  a  bite  of  anything,  no  mat- 
ter how  wholesome  it  may  be.  Good  English  is  no 
exception  to  the  rule.  Attempt  to  give  the  lesson  as 
a  whole  without  any  breathing  place  between  times, 
and  the  bite  is  too  big  for  the  pupil  and  the  feeding 
process  too  trying  to  the  teachei^     Cut  It  up  into 


28       ENGLISH  FOR  COMING  AMERICANS 

three  parts.  Give  the  pupils  two  breathing  places, 
but  remember  to  connect  the  parts  as  each  is  mas- 
tered, and  the  students  will  enjoy  the  exercise  and 
heartily  participate  in  the  recital.  Do  this  with 
every  lesson. 

You  have  also  observed  that  the  verb  in  each  sen- 
tence is  placed  on  the  left  of  the  sentence.  It  is  set 
there  for  a  purpose.  We  believe  that  its  impor- 
tance in  the  sentence  justifies  this  emphasis,  and  the 
difficulty  experienced  by  learners  *iri'  mastering  the 
verb  demands  our  special  attention. 

Have  you  ever  counted  how  often  during  the  day 
3^ou  use  common  verbs?  Contrast  the  frequency  and 
variety  of  their  use  with  that  of  any  other  part  of 
speech,  and  you  will  soon  be  convinced  that  the 
prominence  given  the  verb  in  tKese  lessons  is  amply 
justified.  Observe  again  the  foreigners,  who  speak 
broken  English,  carrying  on  a  conversation.  Mark 
the  part  of  speech  with  which  they  experience 
greatest  difficulty,  and  you  will  find  that  it  is  the 
verb.  Here  they  stumble  oftenest.  They  get  the 
nouns,  and  the  adjectives,  with  comparative  ease, 
but  the  modes  and  tenses  of  the  verb,  the  use  of  the 
auxiliaries,  perplex  them  and  give  them  consider- 
able difficulty.  That  is,  that  part  of  speech  which 
plays  the  most  important  role  in  every  sentence  is 
least  mastered  by  foreigners.  They  stumble  in  the 
use  of  the  verb,  which  is  the  soul  of  the  sentence  and 
plays  the  leading  part  in  all  conversatron.  Are  we 
not  then  justified  in  emphasizing  it,  in  making  it  the 
key  to  every  sentence,  and  in  placing  it  in  so  con- 
venient a  place  that  we  can  call  the  attention  of  the 


LESSONS  AND  EQUIPMENT  29 

class  to  variations  in  its  use  according  to  changes 
of  mode  and  time?  It  is  not  within  the  range  of  our 
scheme  to  conjugate  any  verb  in  an  abstract  man- 
ner, but  it  is  our  purpose  to  introduce  such  parts  of 
the  conjugation  of  each  verb  as  bear  directly  upon 
the  lesson  in  hand.  The  student  is  given  in  each 
case  a  concrete  instance  of  the  change  necessary  in 
order  to  meet  the  demand.  In  this  way  he  will  learn 
the  several  modes  and  tenses,  and  our  hope  is  that 
through  practice  he  will  acquire  that  grammatical 
sense  which  each  of  us  attained,  not  because  we  read 
the  treatises  of  grammarians,  but  because  we  speak 
as  we  heard  our  relatives  and  friends  speak. 

2.     The  Charts 

The  first  ten  lessons  are  put  in  chart  form  for  the 
purpose  of  reading  and  review  work.  This  is  not 
done  with  the  second  and  third  series,*  for  the  reason 
that  we  hope  the  students  who  have  mastered  the 
first  series  will  be  so  familiar  with  common  English 
words  as  to  be  able  to  write  simple  sentences  without 
visual  aid.  This  is  the  advanced  step  we  hope  the 
pupils  will  take  in  the  second  series.  The  students 
may  not  be  able  to  do  this  in  the  first  or  second  les- 
son of  the  Industrial  Series,  but  this  should  be  the 
objective  in  this  part  of  our  course,  and  the  teacher 
will  exercise  his  ingenuity  to  lead  the  pupils  to  this 
accomplishment. 


*Some  teachers  ask  for  printed  charts  for  the  second  series.  The 
teacher,  if  he  feels  that  his  work  can  be  facilitated  by  the  use  of  a 
chart,  is  advised  to  write  out  each  lesson  in  Series  B  on  a  manila  sheet 
and  use  it  for  review  work.  I  believe,  however,  that  better  work  can 
be  done  by  the  use  of  cards  in  Series  B,  than  by  the  use  of  charts. 


30       ENGLISH  FOR  COMING  AMERICANS 

In  the  third  series,  the  pupil  should  be  urged  to 
throw  the  lesson  into  a  continuous  narrative,  and 
tell  or  write  the  story  in  his  own  words  as  far  as  he 
is  able.  This  is  the  objective  in  the  Commercial 
Series,  and  the  teacher  will  find  a  way  to  work  out 
the  desired  result  by  having  the  brightest  pupils 
recite  first,  thus  giving  an  example  to  the  others  in 
the  class. 

3.     The  Cards 

There  is  one  danger  against  which  we  must  guard. 
Some  foreigners  have  tenacious  memories  and  they 
may  learn  each  and  all  of  the  lessons  in  a  perfunc- 
tory manner.  They  can  readily  rehearse  them  if 
once  you  give  them  the  cue,  but  they  are  not  able  to 
use  the  sentences  and  words  in  other  relations.  To 
guard  against  this  "parrot  talk,"  a  system  of  cards 
is  prepared,  dealing  with  the  subject-matter  of  the 
lessons  taught  in  class.  These  cards,  as  above  stated, 
are  used  in  connection  with  Series  B  and  C,  and  take 
the  place  of  the  charts  for  review  work.  The  sen- 
tences printed  on  these  cards  are  in  the  form  of 
question  and  answer,  so  that  a  group  of  students  sit- 
ting around  a  table  may  carry  on  a  conversation  in 
words  and  phrases  learned  in  the  lessons  to  which  the 
cards  refer. 

This  card  practice  will,  we  trust,  help  the  pupil 
to  put  into  use  what  he  has  learned  in  the  classroom. 
It  will  also  afford  diversion  by  breaking  up  the 
monotony  incident  to  rehearsing  the  lessons  in  con- 
cert. The  teacher  can,  by  the  use  of  these  cards, 
urge  rapidity  of  response  from  pupil  to  pupil,  so 


LESSONS  AND  EQUIPMENT  Si 

that  they  will  develop  fluency  of  speech.  The  card 
work  can  be  made  still  more  interesting  by  so  arrang- 
ing the  game  that  the  man  who  makes  a  mistake  will 
be  penalized — debarred  from  the  game,  or  the  like. 
In  this  way  innocent  pressure  will  be  brought  to  bear 
upon  each  player,  which  will  sharpen  his  wit  and 
speed  on  the  day  when  he  can  think  and  freely  con- 
verse in  English. 

The  pupils  who  master  the  thirty  lessons  in  this 
course  will  have  a  vocabulary  of  more  than  700  words. 
This  is  a  larger  stock  than  most  men  in  the  common 
walks  of  life  use.  Equipped  with  this  stock  of  words, 
which  have  been  learned  in  simple  sentences,  the  for- 
eigner will  be  better  able  to  comprehend  the  larger 
life  into  which  he  has  come.  He  will  be  a  better 
employee,  and  in  this  simple  course  a  channel  of 
communication  will  have  been  opened,  through  which 
American  ideas  and  ideals  will  reach  his  soul, 

4.     Examinations 

Each  student  participating  in  the  course,  "Eng- 
lish for  Coming  Americans,"  is  not  only  offered  the 
privilege,  but  is  also  strongly  urged  to  take  advan- 
tage, of  the  International  examinations  in  this  sub- 
ject of  "Preparatory  English,"  as  arranged  by  the 
Educational  Department  of  the  International  Com- 
mittee of  Young  Men's  Christian  Associations. 
These  take  place  simultaneously  throughout  the  con- 
tinent on  a  specified  day  during  the  first  week  in 
April  and  the  second  week  in  June.  A  certificate  will 
be  issued  to  each  student  successfully  passing  the 


32      ENGLISH  FOR  COMING  AMERICANS 

examination.  This  gives  a  goal  for  which  each  young 
man  will  aim,  and  also  gives  the  teacher  an  objective 
toward  which  he  will  be  anxious  to  lead  his  class. 

The  expense  for  the  examination  is  twenty-five 
cents  per  student,  which  covers  an  individual  set  of 
questions,  examination  paper,  and  the  certificate  that 
may  be  won. 


CHAPTER  III 


TEACHING  THE  LESSON 

^y\/  E  will  now  illustrate  how  to  teach  the  lesson, 
*    "        and  will  take  lesson  one  in  the  Domestic 
Series  for  the  purpose. 

FIRST  LESSON 


A    i 


B.   i 


awake 

open 

look 

find 

see 


Getting  up  in  the  Morning 

I  awake  from  sleep. 
I  open  my  eyes. 
I  look  for  my  watch. 
I  find  my  watch. 
I  see  what  time  it  is. 


IS 

must  get  up 
throw  back 
get  out 
put  on 
put  on 

wash 
comb 
put  on 
put  on 
open 
go  down 


It  is  six  o'clock. 
I  must  get  up. 

I  throw  back  the  bed-clothes. 
I  get  out  of  bed. 
I  put  on  my  pants. 
I    put    on    my    stockings    and 
shoes. 

I  wash  myself. 

I  comb  my  hair. 

I  put  on  my  collar  and  necktie. 

I  put  on  my  vest  and  coat. 

I  open  the  door  of  my  bedroom. 

I  go  down  stairs. 


There   are   five   distinct   steps   in   the   process   of 
teaching  each  lesson: 

1.  The  Oral  Training 

2.  The  Reading  Exercise 


34>       ENGLISH  FOR  COMING  AMERICANS 

3.  The  Writing  Practice 

4.  The  Review 

5.  The  Grammar  Lesson 

1.     Oral  Training 

Begin  with  section  A.  Pronounce  the  five  verbs — 
"awake,  open,  look,  find,  see" — distinctly  and  not 
too  rapidly.  Then  say  "awake"  and  encourage  the 
class  to  say  the  verb.  Do  the  same  with  "open," 
"look,"  "find,"  "see."  The  class,  in  a  few  minutes, 
will  be  able  to  repeat  the  five  verbs  without  your  aid. 

Now  take  the  five  sentences.  Pronounce  them  dis- 
tinctly and  not  too  rapidly:  "I  awake  from  sleep"; 
"I  open  my  eyes";  "I  look  for  my  watch";  "I  find 
my  watch";  "I  see  what  time  it  is."  Then  go  back 
to  the  beginning:  "I  awake  from  sleep,"  and  en- 
courage the  class  to  say  the  sentence;  follow  with 
each  of  the  other  sentences:  "I  open  my  eyes,"  "I 
look  for  my  watch,"  "I  find  my  watch,"  "I  see  what 
time  it  is."  The  students  will  in  a  very  short  while 
pronounce  distinctly  the  five  sentences  in  order  with- 
out your  aid — only  as  far  as  you  prompt  them  by 
acting  the  various  steps  in  the  sentences.* 

When  the  pupils  can  rehearse  part  A  fairly  well, 
proceed  to  part  B.  Begin  again  with  the  verbs  on 
the  left  of  this  section.  Pronounce  all  of  them 
clearly  before  the  class  begins  to  repeat.  Then 
begin  again:  Say  "is"  and  encourage  the  class  to 


*  I  have  found  some  teachers  reluctant  to  repeat  the  sentence  again 
and  again  until  the  pupil  catches  the  right  sound  and  is  able  to  repro- 
duce it.  The  teacher  must  repeat  and  repeat  and  help  the  class  along 
until  it  is  able  to  recite  the  lesson  of  its  own  accord,  prompted,  how- 
ever, by  the  acting  of  the  teacher. 


TEACHING  THE  LESSON  35 

repeat  the  verb;  follow  with,  "must  get  up,"  "throw 
back,"  "get  out,"  "put  on,"  and  "put  on."  When 
they  can  give  these  verbs  in  order  without  your 
aid,  proceed  to  the  sentences  in  part  B.  Go  over 
them  yourself  before  the  class  begins  to  rehearse. 
Then  begin  with  "It  is  six  o'clock"  and  let  the 
class  sa}^  the  sentence.  Follow  with  "I  must  get  up" ; 
"I  throw  b^ck  the  bed-clothes" ;  "I  get  out  of  bed" ; 
*^I  put  on  my  pants";  "I  put  on  my  stockings  and 
shoes."  M 

As  soon  as  the  class  is  able  to  rehearse  part  B, 
join  this  to  part  A,  and  let  the  class  begin  with  the 
first  sentence,  "I  awake  from  sleep,"  and  proceed  in 
order,  sentence  by  sentence,  till  the  pupils  say,  "I 
put  on  my  stockings  and  shoes."  You  will  find  that 
it  is  necessary  for  you  to  lead  the  class  through 
parts  A  and  B  two  or  three  times  before  they  fully 
comprehend  your  idea.  They  will  soon  understand 
and  will  rehearse  in  order  these  two  sections. 

Now  proceed  to  part  C.  Begin  by  pronouncing  In 
succession  the  six  verbs,  then  go  back  and  say, 
"wash,"  and  encourage  the  class  to  say  it ;  follow 
with  "comb,"  "put  on,"  "put  on,"  "open,"  "go 
down."  When  the  class  can  rehearse  these  in  order, 
take  up  the  sentences.  Go  over  the  six  sentences 
alone  first  of  all,  and  then  begin  with,  "I  wash  my- 
self," and  have  the  class  repeat  it ;  follow  with,  "I 
comb  my  hair" ;  "I  put  on  my  collar  and  necktie" ;  "I 
put  on  my  vest  and  coat";  "I  open  the  door  of  my 
bedroom" ;  "I  go  down  stairs." 

When  the  class  is  able  to  rehearse  part  C  fairly 
well,  join  it  to  parts  A  and  B,  then  begin  with  the 


26       ENGLISH  FOR  COMING  AMERICANS 

first  sentence,  "I  awake  from  sleep,"  and  proceed 
through  the  lesson,  sentence  by  sentence,  until  you 
come  to,  "I  go  down  stairs."  It  will  be  necessary  for 
you  to  rehearse  this  three  or  four  times,  but  you 
will  soon  have  the  joy  of  hearing  the  class  going 
through  the  seventeen  sentences  without  any  oral  aid 
from  you,  save  only  the  prompting  that  comes  from 
your  acting. 

The  class  now  knows  the  lesson.  The  proper 
sound  of  each  of  the  fifty  words*  taught  them  is  in 
the  pupils'  ears.  They  have  spoken  audibly  each 
word  and  each  sentence.  Some  cannot  pronounce 
"the,"  "throw,"  "vest,"  "watch,"  distinctly.  You  see 
and  you  hear  their  mispronunciation.  Call  their  at- 
tention to  it.  Show  them  how  you  fix  your  lips  and 
your  teeth  to  pronounce  these  words.  Ask  them  to 
do  the  same,  and  you  will  be  astonished  how  soon  the 
pupils  acquire  correct  enunciation  if  you  give  them 
clear  and  simple  direction.  But  the  important  part 
in  the  work  thus  far  done  is  that  each  pupil  has  had 
correct  pronunciation  of  each  word.  It  is  in  his 
ear  and  it  will  guide  him  in  his  efforts  to  reproduce 
the  same. 

The  first  step — oral  training — is  done.  We  are 
now  ready  to  take  the  second: 

S.     Reading  Exercise 

You  now  take  your  chart  of  the  "First  Lesson." 
Hang  it  where  each  pupil  can  see  it.     Take  the  first 

*The  pupil  has  learned  fifty  words  in  the  first  lesson,  viz.,  14  verbs, 
19  nouns,  9  prepositions,  3  pronouns,  an  article,  a  conjunction  and  a 
numeral.  In  the  grammar  lesson  to  be  given  in  conjunction  with  this 
lesson  the  pupils  will  learn  thirteen  other  pronouns.  This  makes  a  total 
of  sixty  words. 


TEACHING  THE  LESSON  37 

lesson  in  the  leaflets,  and  give  a  copy  to  each  member 
in  the  class.  The  pupils  now  see  the  lesson  in  print 
for  the  first  time.  Let  them  read  it.  You  stand  by 
the  chart  and  point  out  word  after  word  as  you 
read.  Go  through  the  lesson  twice  or  three  times  in 
this  way.  Then  ask  the  pupils  to  lay  down  their 
leaflets  and  look  at  the  chart.  Try  their  reading 
capacity  by  pointing  to  the  verbs,  choosing  one 
here  and  there  as  your  judgment  suggests.  Then 
go  to  the  sentences  and  do  the  same.  Point  to  the 
third,  then  to  the  seventh,  then  to  the  last.  Pass 
from  one  line  to  the  other  in  rapid  succession,  testing 
their  power  to  read  and  recognize  the  words  and 
sentences  which  they  all  know  and  can  speak. 

This  exercise  should  not  take  more  than  five  or 
ten  minutes.  You  will  be  guided  by  the  capacity  of 
the  class  to  read  any  word  or  sentence  at  sight  as 
soon  as  you  point  to  it.  When  you  are  satisfied  that 
they  can  read  the  lesson  or  any  part  of  it  fairly  well, 
the  second  step  is  completed  and  we  are  ready  to 
take  the  third. 

3.     Writing  Practice 

Ask  each  pupil  to  turn  over  the  leaflet.  Here  he 
finds  the  same  lesson  in  script  form.  Each  student 
has  a  blank  book  and  a  pencil  or  pen.  Tell  him  to 
copy  the  lesson,  and  immediately  the  class  is  busy 
writing  the  lesson  each  one  knows. 

While  the  writing  exercise  goes  on,  the  teacher 
and  his  assistant  will  pass  from  pupil  to  pupil  and 
see  how  he  can  aid  each  one.  Here  is  Tony  holding 
his  pen  as  if  it  were  a  hammer:  show  him  the  better 


38       ENGLISH  FOR  COMING  AMERICANS 

way  to  hold  his  pen.  See,  Casimir  is  inserting  some 
Greek  letters  for  English  ones,  and  Kaspar  in  his 
hurry  is  using  German  script.  Correct  them.  I 
have  seen  very  ludicrous  errors  in  this  practice  of 
writing,  and  you  will  see  some  funny  ones:  never 
laugh  at  them.  Come  to  the  pupil  with  encourage- 
ment. Help  him  to  compare  what  he  writes  and 
what  is  on  the  printed  page.  He  will  possibly  laugh 
— oftenest  he  is  so  earnest  that  he  has  no  time  to 
laugh.  Your  duty  is  to  help,  to  encourage,  to  com- 
mend, to  correct. 

There  may  be  a  pupil  who  excels  all  others  in  the 
matter  of  writing  the  exercise.  Encourage  him  and 
as  soon  as  you  think  he  is  capable,  let  him  write  one 
of  the  sentences  from  memory  on  the  blackboard.  In 
this  way,  you  will  lead  the  whole  class  to  take  a  step 
forward  from  simply  copying  to  writing  sentences 
from  dictation. 

All  the  scholars  have  written  the  lesson.  You  and 
your  assistant  have  corrected  all  that  need  correc- 
tion, now  we  are  ready  for  review  work. 

4.     Lesson  Review 

You  go  to  the  chart  and  by  a  simple  arrangement 
you  cover  all  the  sentences  in  the  lesson  with  a  sheet 
of  paper,  leaving  visible  the  verbs  on  the  left  of  the 
sheet. 

You  ask  the  class,  "What  was  the  first  sentence  in 
our  lesson.?"  The  pupils  reply,  "I  awake  from 
sleep."  Uncover  the  sentence  as  if  to  see  if  it  is 
correct;  then  you  say,  "Right,  and  now  what  is  the 
second?"    "I  open  my  eyes."    Move  your  paper  and 


TEACHING  THE  LESSON 


39 


show  the  sentence.  "Correct,"  you  say,  "and  then 
what  follows?"  "I  look  for  my  watch,"  uncover  the 
sentence  and  say,  "Good,  that's  right,  and  then 
what?"  etc. 

You  go  through  the  lesson  in  this  way,  carrying 
on  a  conversation  between  yourself  and  the  class 
somewhat  after  the  following: 


Teacher 

Pupil 

Teacher 

Pupil 

Teacher 

Pupil 

Teacher 

Pupil 

Teacher 

Pupil 

Teacher 

Pupil 

Teacher 

Pupil 

Teacher 

Pupil 

Teacher 

Pupil 

Teacher 

Pupil 

Teacher 

Pupil 

Teacher 

Pupil 

Teacher 

Pupil 

Teacher 

Pupil 


"Give  me  the  first  sentence  in  our  les- 
son." 
"I  awake  from  sleep." 
"Good,  what  is  the  second?" 
"I  open  my  eyes." 
"Correct,  and  then  what?" 
"I  look  for  my  watch." 
"Right,  and  then  what  follows?" 
"I  find  my  watch." 
"That's  right,  and  then  you  say?" 
"I  see  what  time  it  is." 
"All  right,  and  now  what  comes?" 
"It  is  six  o'clock." 
"Fine,  and  what  then?" 
"I  must  get  up." 
"Good,  and  then  what?" 
"I  throw  back  the  bed-clothes." 
"First-rate;  and  then  what  is  done?" 
"I  get  out  of  bed." 
"Right,  and  now  what?" 
"I  put  on  my  pants." 
"Correct,  and  then  what  ?" 
"I  put  on  my  stockings  and  shoes." 
"Good ;  and  what  follows  ?" 
"I  wash  myself." 
"That's  it;  and  now  what?" 
"I  comb  my  hair." 
"Well  done;  and  now  what  follows?" 
"I  put  on  my  collar  and  necktie." 


40      ENGLISH  FOR  COMING  AMERICANS 


Teacher 

Pupil 

Teacher 

Pupil 

Teacher 

Pupil 

Teacher 


"Good ;  and  then  ?'* 

"I  put  on  my  vest  and  coat." 

"Fine;  and  what  follows?" 

"I  open  the  door  of  my  bedroom.' 

"That's  right ;  and  then  ?" 

"I  go  down  stairs." 

"Good;  the  lesson  is  done." 


The  teacher  should  be  careful,  during  the  progress 
of  this  lesson,  to  uncover  sentence  after  sentence  as 
the  class  gives  the  phrase  asked  for.  This  adds  in- 
terest to  the  review,  and  it  makes  vivid  the  com- 
ments of  the  teacher  which  are  interjected  in  the 
progress  of  the  review. 

Let  the  teacher  now  compare  the  phrases  he  inter- 
jects in  the  progress  of  the  review  with  those  forming 
the  body  of  the  lesson.  They  are  wholly  different  in 
character.  They  pertain  to  the  judgments  of  the 
mind,  pronounced  as  the  students  perform  their  part, 
and  the  relation  between  these  two  kinds  of  phrases 
is  similar  to  that  between  the  person  who  acts  and 
the  one  who  sits  in  judgment  upon  him.  The  rela- 
tionship is  still  closer.  Language  is  one  and  so  is 
each  personality.  But  as  in  each  personality  there 
are  two  persons :  the  one  acting,  the  other  sitting  in 
judgment ;  so  in  language  there  are  two  distinct  lan- 
guages: the  one  pertains  to  external  things,  the 
other  to  the  judgments  of  the  mind  regarding  these 
external  realities.  Now,  it  is  easy  to  put  the  first 
kind  of  speech  into  lesson  forms  that  will  hold  the 
interest  of  the  foreigner,  but  it  would  be  well-nigh 
impossible  to  put  the  other  in  such  form  as  to  make 
it  intelligible  to  him.     But  in  our  review  work  there 


TEACHING  THE  LESSON  41 

is  ample  opportunity  for  the  introduction  of  phrases 
pertaining  to  the  judgments  of  the  mind,  and  if  these 
are  judiciously  introduced,  the  class  will  soon  be 
versed  in  their  use,  and  thus  become  familiar  not 
only  with  the  phrases  in  the  lessons  relating  to  con- 
crete realities,  but  also  with  those  interjected  which 
relate  to  the  judgments  of  the  mind. 

If  the  teacher  reflects  he  will  see  how  large  a 
part  this  reaction  of, the  mind  upon  external  reali- 
ties plays  in  language.  In  the  first  ten  lessons  sim- 
ple expressions  should  be  used,  such  as,  "right," 
"good,"  "capital,"  "first-rate,"  "fine,"  "that's 
right,"  "that's  excellent,"  "wrong,"  "that's  not 
right,"  "try  again,"  "that's  better,"  and  the 
phrases,  "and  then  — ,"  "what  follows  — ,"  "what 
next — ."  In  Chapter  VI  other  relative  phrases  are 
given  which  can  be  used  by  the  teacher  in  the 
course. 

The  review  is  over ;  we  are  ready  to  proceed  to 
the  final  step. 

5.     The  Grammar  Lesson 

The  students  should  be  trained  in  grammatical 
forms.  Practice  in  grammar  should  be  introduced 
in  connection  witli  each  lesson.  The  grammar  les- 
son should  never  be  given  alone ;  it  should  always  be 
attached  to  what  the  pupils  already  know.  Gram- 
mar lessons  in  an  abstract  form  will  drive  away  any 
body  of  men,  but  attach  the  lesson  in  grammar  to 
what  the  pupil  already  knows  and  immediately  he  is 
interested  in  the  changes  introduced.  He  sees  their 
practical  application,  and  before  he  knows  that  he 


42       ENGLISH  FOR  COMING  AMERICANS 

is  learning  grammar,  he  is  interested  and  wiU  con- 
tinue to  study  the  changes  incident  to  varied  rela- 
tions in  life.* 

The  following  is  the  grammatical  lesson  to  be  in- 
troduced in  connection  with  the  first  lesson. 

The  first  personal  pronoun  is  used  throughout 
the  lesson.  Tell  the  pupils  that  there  are  three  per- 
sons in  the  English  language  as  in  their  native 
tongue :  I,  you,  he ;  we,  you,  they.  Ask  them  to 
substitute  "you"  for  "I"  and  go  through  the  lesson. 

You  awake  from  sleep. 
You  open  your  eyes. 

The  pupils  will  say  in  the  second  sentence,  "You 
opeii  my  eyes."  Stop  them  and  say,  "No,  you  open 
your  eyes."  Then  write  on  the  blackboard  the  per- 
sonal and  possessive  pronouns. 

I  —  my  we  —  our 

you  —  your  you  —  your 

he  —  his  they  —  their 

Continue  the  lesson  with  the  second  person  singular. 
When  you  come  to  sentence  thirteen,  "I  wash  my- 
self," the  scholars  will  hesitate.  Help  them:  "You 
wash  yourself,"  and  again  write  the  reflexive  pro- 
noun alongside  the  possessive  pronoun  on  the  black- 
board. 

myself  ourselves 

yourself  yourselves 

himself  themselves 


*The  teacher  should  not  teach  grammar  in  the  way  I  have  found 
some  men  trying  to  do.  They  begin  by  saying,  "This  is  a  noun," 
"This  is  a  verb,"  etc.,  and  then  define  the  parts  of  speech.  The  instruc- 
tion in  the  book  is  designed  to  help  the  teachers  to  graft  grammar 
practice  upon  each  lesson  without  telling  the  pupil  it  is  grammar — 
introduce  it  as  diversion. 


TEACHING  THE  LESSON  43 

Then  substitute  "he"  in  the  place  of  "I."  The  pupils 
will  say  in  the  first  sentence,  "He  awake  from  sleep." 
Stop  them  and  say,  "No.  He  awakes  from  sleep." 
Go  to  the  blackboard  and  write  down  the  word 
awakes,  thus,  "awake  -  s,"  calling  the  attention  of 
the  pupils  to  the  addition  of  s,  the  variable  element 
in  the  verb.  They  will  comprehend  and  proceed 
through  the  lesson. 

Then  take  the  first  sentence,  "I  awake  from 
sleep,"  and  conjugate  the  verb  in  the  present  tense 
indicative,  thus: 

I  awake  from  sleep.  We  awake  from  sleep. 

You  awake  from  sleep.  You  awake  from  sleep. 

He  awakes  from  sleep.  They  awake  from  sleep. 

Do  the  same  with  the  other  sentences.  Do  not  be 
afraid  this  will  prove  monotonous  to  the  students. 
They  will  make  mistakes  and  you  will  have  oppor- 
tunity to  correct  them  in  a  happy  vein  which  will 
keep  up  the  interest  of  the  class.  The  practice  is  of 
importance  in  order  that  the  pupils  may  get  the 
grammatical  sense  of  which  we  spoke  above. 
This  ends  the  lesson. 

How  long  will  it  take  the  average  group  to  mas- 
ter this  first  lesson.?  We  have  taught  it  to  a  group 
of  Polish  young  men  in  an  hour.  True,  they  com- 
plained that  their  "jaws  were  sore,"  but  they  went 
through  every  part  of  it  as  outlined  above.  It  took 
an  hour  and  a  half  with  a  group  not  as  quick  to 
learn  as  the  Polish  young  men  referred  to,  but  these 
less  apt  scholars  got  it  in  that  time.     The  teacher 


44      ENGLISH  FOR  COMING  AMERICANS 

may  find  it  impossible  to  go  through  the  lesson  as 
above  outlined  in  one  session  of  an  hour  and  a  half; 
then  he  had  better  curtail  the  grammar  part,  reserv- 
ing this  for  the  second  evening. 

We  have  outlined  the  way  the  lesson  is  to  be 
taught.  Of  course,  the  teacher  must  use  tact  and 
judgment.  The  system  herein  proposed  is  a  tool  to 
be  used  by  the  teacher.  If  he  can  rise  above  the 
plan  herein  proposed,  so  much  the  better  for  the 
class,  if  he  attains  greater  efficiency.  What  the 
teacher  should  always  remember  is,  that  a  hap- 
hazard, disorderly  method  of  teaching  will  never 
succeed.  He  must  be  masterful,  confident  in  his  own 
powers,  and  conscious  that  he  has  a  duty  to  per- 
form each  time  he  appears  before  the  class. 

Almost  invariably  the  question  is  asked  by  teach- 
ers, who  know  not  the  language  of  the  foreigners 
whom  they  teach,  "Must  we  use  an  interpreter?" 
If  you  are  a  good  actor,  no.  If  you  lack  the  power 
to  interpret  the  lesson  by  acting,  then  you  had  bet- 
ter get  an  interpreter.  But  remember  he  is  your 
assistant  and  not  your  leader.  An  interpreter,  who 
is  discreet  and  sympathetic,  can  be  of  great  service 
to  hold  the  men  together  and  can  aid  the  teacher  in 
many  ways.  In  the  classroom,  however,  the  more 
English  the  students  hear  and  practice,  the  better. 
They  are  there  to  learn  our  language  and  the  best 
way  to  master  it  is  to  conduct  all  the  work  in  the 
English  language.  After  the  first  two  or  three  les- 
sons have  been  learned  by  the  pupils,  the  service  of 
the  interpreter,  as  far  as  the  lessons  are  concerned, 
will  no  longer  be  necessary. 


TEACHING  THE  LESSON  45 

I  repeat,  bring  into  the  classroom  the  objects  re- 
ferred to  in  the  lesson.  Let  the  pupils  see  the  object 
and  let  the  teacher  go  through  the  activity  described, 
using  the  implements  named.  If  this  is  well  done, 
not  a  member  in  the  class  will  leave  the  room  without 
a  clear  idea  of  what  is  taught,  and  everyone  will  re- 
member the  language  in  which  the  ideas  were  clothed. 


CHAPTER  IV 

ACTION  IN  THE  CLASSROOM 

I  N  the  previous  chapter  I  have  said  that  the  teacher 
-*•  should  act  out  the  lesson.  This  is  so  impor- 
tant that  it  deserves  special  emphasis.  Every  good 
teacher  has  an  actor  in  him,  and,  besides  clearness  of 
expression,  action  is  so  well  adapted  to  the  word 
taught  that  the  students  are  never  at  a  loss  to  com- 
prehend what  is  described.  Many  good  men,  ex- 
tremely anxious  to  help  the  foreign-speaking  man  to 
learn  English,  fail  in  this  very  quality.  They  will 
not  act,  they  stand  or  sit  in  a  good-natured  way  in 
the  classroom,  and  patiently  repeat  the  words,  but 
they  fail  in  action.  If  they  could  only  be  made  to 
move  hand  and  foot,  head  and  body,  and  gesticulate, 
new  life  would  come  into  their  teaching.  This  was 
very  well  illustrated  in  the  city  of  Omaha,  Nebraska. 
A  class  was  dwindling,  although  the  teacher  was  a 
good  man.  The  organizer  in  charge  of  the  work 
went  to  see  what  was  the  cause  of  the  falling  off.  He 
interviewed  an  Italian,  who  was  a  member  of  the  class, 
and  asked  him  why  the  men  kept  away;  he  replied: 
"The  teacher  has  na  gotta  steam."  The  man  lacked 
the  ability  to  act.  If  the  lesson  took  hold  of  him  so 
that  it  came  out  in  his  hands  and  feet  and  the  move- 
ments of  his  body,  the  criticism  that  he  had  no  steam 
would  never  have  been  made.  Act  out  the  lesson  and 
don't  be  afraid  to  make  yourself  ludicrous  if  by  it  you 


4.8       ENGLISH  FOR  COMING  AMERICANS 

will  unloosen  the  tongues  of  men  and  make  them  talk 
our  beautiful  language. 

If  you  teach  the  first  lesson,  don't  forget  your 
watch.  One  of  our  teachers  lay  down,  closed  his 
eyes  and  snored  and  awoke  from  sleep.  The  stu- 
dents laughed,  but  they  all  knew  what  the  first  sen- 
tence meant.  He  said,  "I  open  my  eyes,"  and  suited 
the  action  to  the  word  so  admirably  that  some  of  the 
men  in  the  class  closed  their  eyes  and  opened  them  as 
they  repeated  the  sentence.  He  then  looked  for  his 
watch  in  a  way  that  everyone  felt  that  the  search 
was  going  on ;  he  found  the  watch,  and  the  tone  of  his 
voice  as  well  as  the  expression  of  his  eyes  told  of  the 
discovery  more  clearly  than  the  words  he  uttered. 
He  then  opened  the  case  of  the  watch  and  said:  "I 
see  what  time  it  is,"  and  all  the  men  knew  what  he 
meant  and  repeated  the  phrase  after  him.  When  he 
came  to  the  second  part,  he  pointed  to  the  watch  and 
said,  "It  is  six  o'clock."  He  then  made  a  gesture 
that  showed  resolution,  "I  must  get  up" — the  will 
was  seen  in  his  hahds  as  well  as  in  his  eyes.  He  then 
lay  down  again  and  used  his  overcoat  and  an  old  cur- 
tain as  bedding;  he  threw  these  aside  and  said:  "I 
throw  back  the  bed-clothes"  and  the  men  smiled  and 
moved  in  their  seats ;  he  repeated  the  act  and  had  the 
satisfaction  of  seeing  their  faces  radiant  with  intel- 
ligence— they  understood  what  he  meant.  Then  he 
got  out  of  bed  and  said,  "I  get  out  of  bed."  Bed — 
did  they  understand  what  the  word  meant.?  The 
teacher  took  no  chances.  He  had  a  picture  of  a  bed 
with  him,  he  showed  it  to  the  men  and  said:  "bed"; 
he  lay  down  again  on  two  chairs  and  made  a  gesture 


ACTION  IN  THE  CLASSROOM  49 

"sleep  in  bed,"  "get  out  of  bed,"  and  illustrated  the 
act  so  that  no  man  having  eyes  could  misinterpret  the 
action,  and  none  of  the  class  did.  When  he  came  to 
the  dressing  operation,  he  pulled  up  his  trousers  as 
he  said,  "I  put  on  my  pants,"  and  the  same  with  his 
stockings  and  shoes ;  the  teacher  knew  that  his  efforts 
were  fruitful;  for  not  only  did  the  men  recite,  but 
they  also  followed  him  in  action ;  every  pupil  watched 
him  as  the  hunter  does  the  prey,  and  no  sooner  was  he 
illustrating  a  sentence  by  gesture,  than  he  saw  the 
same  action  in  the  mercurial  members  of  the  class, 
while  the  more  stolid  felt  the  impulse  in  a  marked 
degree.  When  the  teacher  came  to  the  last  part  of 
the  lesson,  his  task  was  easy.  There  was  a  small 
washbowl  on  the  chair  and  he  stood  over  it  in  the  act 
of  washing  his  face  and  hands  and  said,  "I  wash  my- 
self." He  then  took  a  comb  and  said,  "comb," 
"comb,"  and  began  combing  his  hair  while  he  re- 
peated the  sentence,  "I  comb  my  hair."  The  act  of 
putting  on  his  collar  and  necktie,  his  vest  and  coat, 
were  dramatized  as  every  other  part  of  the  lesson. 
When  he  illustrated,  "I  open  the  door  of  my  bed- 
room," he  took  the  knob  of  the  door  and  opened  it, 
repeating  the  sentence  slowly ;  and  he  illustrated  the 
last  sentence  by  pointing  to  the  stairs  leading  to  the 
cellar  and  said,  "I  go  down  stairs." 

That  teacher  needed  no  interpreter.  He  could  ex- 
plain all  by  action.  He  made  himself  ludicrous — yes, 
but  also  very  dear  to  the  foreign-born  in  the  class. 
They  saw  in  him  a  man,  anxious  to  help  and  willing  to 
make  himself  all  things  if  only  he  might  bring  them 
to  a  knowledge  of  what  he  wanted  to  teach.     There 


50      ENGLISH  FOR  COMING  AMERICANS 

is  no  theater  where  genuine  human  nature  can  show 
itself  more  readily  than  a  classroom  in  which  foreign- 
speaking  men  are  taught  English,  and  no  body  of 
men  is  keener  either  to  perceive  the  shallow  or  to 
appreciate  the  true  qualities  of  a  teacher.  One  of 
our  teachers  was  doing  his  best  to  explain  to  a  class 
the  word  "soundly"  in  the  phrase  "I  sleep  soundly  all 
night."  He  had  tried  various  ways,  but  he  saw  by 
the  faces  of  his  pupils  that  they  did  not  understand ; 
he  then  closed  his  eyes  and  tried  to  open  them  and 
failed,  and  instantly   one  of  the  brightest  scholars 

jumped  up  and  said,  "Me  know,  sleep  like  h ," 

He  grasped  the  idea  and  expressed  it  in  his  own  way, 
and  instantly  helped  the  teacher  to  bring  every  other 
member  of  the  class  into  line.  Many  things  must 
sound  very  funny  to  the  foreign-born  when  they 
learn  the  sounds  of  our  tongue.  I  have  seen  them 
look  at  each  other  and  smile,  but  whenever  they  have 
faith  in  the  teacher  and  feel  that  he  is  earnest  in  his 
work,  they  invariably  sober  down  and  mark  progress. 
Let  us  look  a  moment  at  the  second  lesson,  "Get- 
ting wood  to  light  the  fire."  The  teacher,  when 
teaching  this,  should  provide  himself  with  a  small 
hatchet,  a  stick  of  wood,  a  small  chopping  block,  and 
a  small  basket ;  thus  equipped  he  can  in  an  interesting 
and  speedy  way  make  every  member  of  the  class  fol- 
low him,  comprehend  each  sentence,  and  after  they 
have  learnt  the  lesson,  no  matter  what  part  of  the 
operation  the  teacher  reiterates  in  action,  the  men 
will  clothe  it  in  speech.  I  recall  having  taught  a 
group  of  foreigners  this  lesson,  and  on  the  afternoon 
of  the  following  day  I  visited  the  works  where  they 


ACTION  IN  THE  CLASSROOM  51 

were  employed.  The  superintendent  knew  that  some 
of  the  men  had  been  to  school  and  wondered  whether 
or  not  any  of  the  lesson  remained  in  their  memory. 
Two  of  the  scholars  were  called  aside,  I  took  a  hatchet 
and  raised  it  and  instantly  they  said,  "I  raise  the 
hatchet" ;  I  brought  it  down  and  they  said,  "I  bring 
down  the  hatchet,"  I  laid  it  aside  and  they  said,  "I 
put  away  the  hatchet."  When  I  went  through  the 
lesson  in  pantomime  form,  the  men  gave  us  the  sen- 
tences as  taught  them  the  night  before;  the  lesson 
was  there  in  the  mind  in  perfect  order,  and  I  also 
showed  the  superintendent  that  it  had  not  pushed  out 
the  first  from  their  memory,  for  the  moment  I  began 
to  act  out  the  first  lesson,  sentence  after  sentence 
came.  Objectify  the  lesson  by  taking  to  the  class- 
room every  object  mentioned  in  it,  and  every  lesson 
will  be  instinct  with  life. 

But  I  hear  the  objection,  "It  is  not  always  possi- 
ble to  get  objects  to  illustrate  the  lesson,  for  instance, 
grandmother  and  grandfather,  what  then?"  One 
teacher  illustrated  these  persons  so  well  by  borrow- 
ing a  Santa  Glaus  wig  and  beard  and  walking  in  a 
decrepit  manner  with  a  cane,  that  every  member  in 
the  class  knew  what  he  meant  by  grandfather  and 
grandmother.  Another  teacher  was  a  bit  of  an 
artist,  and  never  was  at  a  loss  to  make  the  class 
understand  what  he  had  in  mind.  Some  of  the 
sketches  he  put  on  the  blackboard  would  have  been 
good  material  for  the  comic  page,  but  they  served 
the  purpose.  A  teacher  in  a  western  city  was  at  a 
loss  to  illustrate  some  parts  of  the  lessons;  he  had 
considerable   distance  to   go   to   the   foreign   colony 


52       ENGLISH  FOR  COMING  AMERICANS 

where  the  class  was  conducted  and  did  not  care  to 
burden  himself  with  miniature  objects;  he  had,  how- 
ever, a  catalogue  of  one  of  the  large  department 
stores  in  his  home  and  from  it  he  clipped  a  series  of 
pictures  of  the  articles  mentioned  in  the  lessons;  he 
then  pasted  them  on  cardboards  and  brought  the 
illustrations  to  the  classroom.  They  served  the  pur- 
pose admirably.  When  the  lessons  on  buying  a 
stamp,  buying  a  railroad  ticket,  depositing  money 
in  the  bank,  were  to  be  taught,  he  went  to  these  vari- 
ous institutions  and  secured  samples  of  the  articles 
sold  or  used,  and  went  through  the  transaction  as 
naturally  as  if  the  alien  were  actually  in  the  act  of 
buying,  etc.  A  superintendent  of  a  steel  mill  was  so 
interested  in  the  advancement  of  a  group  of  his  men, 
that  he  taught  them  the  lesson,  "Lighting  the  fire." 
There  was  a  stove  in  the  room,  he  had  matches,  paper 
and  wood,  but  there  was  no  coal  on  hand.  He  took 
out  his  pocketbook  which  was  black  and  fat  and  made 
it  play  the  part  of  coal.  Everything  went  on  fine, 
and  at  the  close  of  the  lesson  a  bright  pupil  said, 
"Me  like  coal,"  and  pointed  to  the  pocketbook. 

One  of  the  finest  efforts  to  make  lessons  for  foreign- 
speaking  workers  perfectly  clear,  has  been  perfected 
by  the  Delaware,  Lackawanna  &  Western  Coal  Com- 
pany, at  their  mines  in  Scranton,  Pa.  The  lessons 
are  on  coal  mining,  the  cause  of  accidents,  and  the 
laws  regulating  mining.  The  company,  anxious  to 
help  the  men,  incurred  the  expense  of  taking  more 
than  200  pictures  of  situations  in  which  men  were 
injured  because  of  violation  of  either  state  laws  or 
company  rules.    Cuts  were  made  of  these  pictures  and 


ACTION  IN  THE  CLASSROOM  53 

lessons,  setting  forth  in  simple  English  the  cause  of 
the  accidents  and  how  the  men  could  have  avoided 
them.  The  lessons  and  illustrations  were  then  put 
into  book  form  which  is  now  being  used  by  the  for- 
eign-speaking employees  of  the  company. 

While  describing  the  industrial  series  on  page  22, 
I  said  that  the  teacher  of  constructive  ability  will  find 
little  difficulty  in  preparing  lessons  descriptive  of  the 
work  of  men  in  particular  plants.  This  has  been 
done.  When  the  course  was  used  in  a  construction 
camp  where  hundreds  of  foreigners  were  employed 
in  mixing  cement  and  building  concrete  structures, 
the  teacher  got  the  carpenter  to  make  a  box  which 
well  illustrated  the  mixer,  then  miniature  boxes  repre- 
sented the  wheelbarrows ;  some  stone  and  cement  were 
brought  to  the  classroom,  and  the  lesson  was  so  pre- 
sented that  all  the  terms  used  in  the  operation  were 
taught  the  men.  When  the  operation  of  putting 
together  the  concrete  was  illustrated,  a  string  was 
stretched  across  the  room,  a  miniature  basket  was 
run  along  this,  and  lowered  to  the  imagined  place 
where  the  mixture  was  dumped  into  the  framework. 
All  the  terms  used  in  hoisting,  lowering,  dumping, 
packing,  etc.,  were  brought  into  the  lesson  and  the 
men  made  familiar  with  them.  Did  it  pay?  Yes. 
The  company  thought  so  and  encouraged  the  work, 
for  the  men  in  the  English  class  were  more  intelli- 
gent and  better  able  to  take  care  of  themselves  than 
the  men  who  were  deaf  to  the  terms  used  in  the  oper- 
ation. In  a  nursery,  where  between  fifty  and  sixty 
Magyars  and  Poles  were  employed,  the  teacher  and 
the  author  made  a  series  of  six  lessons  pertaining  to 


54       ENGLISH  FOR  COMING  AMERICANS 

the  work  the  men  performed — the  care  of  horses, 
plowing,  planting,  weeding,  etc.,  and  the  students 
saw  the  practicability  of  the  lessons,  while  the  words 
and  phrases  they  were  taught  came  into  daily  use. 
The  expense  attached  to  the  work  was  gladly  borne 
by  the  company ;  the  superintendent  encouraged  the 
work,  he  supplied  all  necessary  equipment,  and  took 
a  personal  interest  in  the  teaching,  for  he  knew  that 
it  was  an  investment  that  paid  a  hundred- fold.  An- 
other corporation  in  the  steel  business  wanted  its  men 
in  the  yard  to  learn  English,  and  in  order  to  facilitate 
the  work,  brought  together  a  list  of  illustrations  from 
catalogues  of  firms  making  locomotives,  cars,  cranes, 
chains,  tracks,  hooks,  pulleys,  etc.,  to  use  in  the  class- 
room, so  that  the  lessons  were  made  more  real  to  the 
students  than  they  would  have  been  without  the  illus- 
trations. There  is  no  lesson  and  no  sphere  of  human 
activity  which  cannot  be  illustrated  if  only  the 
teacher  puts  a  little  thought  and  time  into  the  prep- 
aration of  the  lesson. 

One  of  the  most  successful  teachers  I  knew  prac- 
ticed his  lesson  before  he  went  to  the  classroom.  He 
knew  each  lesson  from  beginning  to  end,  he  studied 
how  best  to  act  out  the  various  parts,  he  carefully 
prepared  himself  by  going  through  the  necessary 
gestures,  he  felt  he  had  something  to  give  the  men 
and  knew  how  to  give  it.  That  class  was  a  success. 
The  foreigners  swore  by  their  teacher.  The  progress 
the  men  made  was  remarkable,  and  the  men  showed 
their  appreciation  of  his  efforts  by  giving  him  a  gold- 
mounted  fountain  pen.  All  men  are  not  equally 
gifted  in  the  capacity  to  teach,  but  we  all  can  do  our 


ACTION  IN  THE  CLASSROOM  55 

best.  I  know  a  teacher  who  carried  a  formidable 
weapon  in  his  pocket,  while  he  taught  a  group  of 
foreigners  for  $2  per  night.  When  asked,  "Why 
do  you  go  armed?"  he  answered,  "I  do  not  know 
what  they  may  do,  they  are  dangerous  fellows." 
That  man  was  not  fit  to  teach  foreigners.  Another 
teacher,  when  among  a  group  of  foreigners,  became 
so  frightened  when  one  of  them  closed  the  door  of  the 
room  that  he  instantly  fled  for  life.  Men  of  this  type 
can  never  convey  knowledge.  We  must  believe  in  the 
foreign-speaking  man,  put  ourselves  at  his  service, 
plan  and  devise  all  possible  ways  to  illustrate  what  we 
have  to  teach,  sit  patiently  with  him,  awaken  the  man 
in  him,  and  the  hour  will  come  when  the  teacher  feels 
that  he  has  a  troop  of  friends  that  will  cling  closer 
than  a  brother.  A  bright  young  man  gave  a  winter 
to  this  work  in  a  large  city.  He  taught  a  group  of 
Poles  and  gave  them  the  best  that  was  in  him.  They 
learnt  much  English,  but  they  got  infinitely  more 
from  that  young  man  than  words  and  phrases.  They 
learnt  to  love  him  and  see  in  him  the  Christian  gen- 
tleman. He  also  learnt  to  know  the  foreigner  bet- 
ter and  felt  that  "God  is  no  respecter  of  persons ;  but 
in  every  nation  he  that  feareth  him,  and  worketh 
righteousness,  is  acceptable  to  him."  Never  in  his 
life  did  he  feel  the  cords  of  friendship  bind  him  more 
firmly  to  men  than  in  this  work.  He  knew  full  well 
that  should  there  be  an  occasion  for  these  men  to 
manifest  their  affection  for  him,  they  would  indeed 
risk  their  lives  in  his  behalf.  It  is  by  doing  good  we 
project  goodness.  Let  the  teacher  study  ,how  to 
teach,  how  to  make  the  men  understand,  how  to  throw 


56      ENGLISH  FOR  COMING  AMERICANS 

his  soul  and  body  into  the  lesson  he  teaches,  and  he 
will  preach  the  message  of  holy  work  that  will  react 
powerfully  upon  the  lives  of  men  in  goodness  and 
virtue. 


CHAPTER  V 

SIDELIGHTS  WHILE  TEACHING 

I  HE  course  in  preparatory  English  printed  in 
'*'  leaflet  form  is  not  designed  to  tie  the  hands  of 
the  teacher  and  suppress  his  individuality  and  in- 
genuity. He  can  depart  from  the  prescribed  course 
if  he  does  so  discreetly.  I  believe  it  is  best  to  teach 
the  lesson  as  prepared  and  see  that  the  pupils  know 
it,  but  while  this  is  the  main  purpose  of  the  evening, 
the  teacher  should  be  alert  and  never  fail  to  use 
opportunities  to  enlarge  the  pupil's  vocabulary  by 
sidelights  suggested  by  the  laws  of  memory.  It 
requires  considerable  skill  to  stand  a  pole  on  end,  but 
it  is  easy  to  stand  a  tripod.  One  word  placed  in  the 
memory  is  hard  to  retain,  but  put  two  or  three  related 
words  there  and  they  are  easily  retained.  While  the 
teacher  presents  the  lesson,  he  will  find  opportunities 
to  throw  in  extra  words  which  are  suggested  by  those 
in  the  lesson.  This  should  be  done  in  a  cheerful  way 
and  he  will  find  his  reward  in  the  light  reflected  from 
the  eyes  of  his  brightest  pupils.  Of  course,  he  must 
be  discreet  in  the  use  of  this  poy^er,  for  one  may  be 
tempted  to  lose  sight  of  the  main  purpose  of  the 
session  and  go  off^  on  a  tangent.  I  will  illustrate 
what  I  mean  by  taking  up  lesson  three  in  Series  A. 

The  lesson  is  "Lighting  the  fire."  I  stand  before 
the  class  and  tell  the  men  what  the  lesson  of  the 
evening  is.     "Light,"  the  room  is  light,  gas  light,  or 


58       ENGLISH  FOR  COMING  AMERICANS 

electric  light — light;  the  opposite  is  dark.  Fire: 
fire  is  hot,  it  burns,  and  I  put  my  hand  on  the  stove 
and  say,  "fire,  hot,  burns."  "Lighting  the  fire."  1 
now  take  the  first  part  of  the  lesson  and  teach  it 
after  the  manner  described  in  Chapter  IIL  In  the 
sentence,  "I  put  some  paper  into  the  stove,"  I  hold 
the  paper  and  say  "newspaper,"  "we  read  news- 
papers," and  then  proceed  to  put  the  paper  in  the 
stove  and  pronounce  the  sentence  clearly  and  dis- 
tinctly. I  come  to  the  sentence,  "I  put  some  wood 
on  the  paper,"  I  hold  the  wood  and  say,  "wood  from 
tree";  "tree,"  and  I  point  to  the  one  in  the  yard 
outside :  "wood — tree,"  and  I  proceed  with  the  action 
and  pronounce  the  sentence. 

I  am  through  the  first  part  and  am  now  teaching 
the  second.  I  come  to  the  sentence,  "The  wood 
catches  fire";  "catches"  and  I  say  "the  man  catches 
the  ball,  the  pitcher  catches  the  ball,  the  pitcher 
throws  the  ball :  catches — throws"  :  "the  wood  catches 
fire,"  and  proceed.  In  the  sentence,  "I  put  coal  on 
the  wood,"  I  take  up  the  word  "coal" ;  coal  is  black, 
the  contrast  is  white,  I  point  to  the  paper,  black — 
white,  "I  put  coal  on  the  wood"  and  go  on. 

We  are  through  the  first  and  second  parts;  now  I 
take  up  the  third  and  here  again  I  can  suggest  a  few 
extra  words  by  way  of  contrast:  "The  stove  gets 
warm,"  warm — cold :  warm,  by  the  stove ;  cold,  out- 
side ;  "the  stove  gets  warm,"  and  continue  the  lesson. 
In  the  phrase,  "The  fire  is  lighted,"  I  dwell  a  moment 
on  "is  lighted"  and  say,  "the  gas  is  lighted,  the  lamp 
is  lighted" ;  "the  fire  is  lighted  in  the  stove." 

The  lesson  is  finished,  but  the  students  have  eleven 


SIDELIGHTS  WHILE  TEACHING  59 

more  words  than  the  lesson  contains  and  they  were 
suggested  by  way  of  contrast,  similarity,  contij 
light — dark;  warm — cold;  black— white;  catches- 
throws ;  gas  light — electric  light ;  wood — tree ;  fire — 
gas — lamp.  These  words  were  thrust  in  as  side- 
lights, they  were  given  the  students  as  we  passed 
along  on  the  main  highway  of  the  evening.  I  did  not 
ask  the  class  to  give  these  words  back  to  me;  they 
concentrated  their  thought  upon  the  lesson  and  my 
main  purpose  was  to  get  them  to  rehearse  it  in  a 
clear  and  accurate  way,  but  I  lodged  some  other 
words  in  their  minds;  in  a  short  while,  these  other 
words  associated  with  the  ones  in  the  lesson  will  come 
to  the  surface,  called  up  again  from  the  deep  by  my 
simply  asking  for  the  opposite  of  light,  hard,  black, 
etc.  The  human  mind  is  a  wonderful  casket;  cast 
into  it  to-day  precious  gems  and  you  may  think  that 
they  are  lost,  but  on  occasions  least  expected  they 
rise  to  the  surface  and  enrich  our  lives.  The  teacher 
should  never  neglect  the  opportunity  of  throwing  in 
some  words  as  sidelights,  but  he  should  also  be  care- 
ful not  to  do  it  too  often,  for  if  it  distracts  the  mind 
too  much  it  will  do  more  harm  than  good.  Let  it  be 
done  as  a  diversion  and  never  ask  the  pupils  to 
rehearse  the  additional  words,  see  that  you  do  not 
dwell  too  long  upon  them.  These  addenda,  by  the 
way,  should  be  introduced  as  a  skilful  piano  player 
tactfully  introduces  a  few  flourishes  in  the  accom- 
paniment, but  never  do  you  miss  in  his  playing  the 
main  theme  in  the  selection.  The  teacher  should  see 
that  the  lesson  is  taught,  but  while  skilfully  leading 
the  class  to  that  achievement,  let  him  put  in  here  and 


60      ENGLISH  FOR  COMING  AMERICANS 

there  a  few  variations  which  will  add  considerably  to 
the  interest  of  the  performance. 

The  teacher,  in  the  choice  of  these  variations, 
should  choose  them  in  a  natural  way.  The  mind  loves 
order  and  works  according  to  laws,  and  the  sug- 
gested words  which  are  to  be  introduced  should  come 
to  the  mind  of  the  teacher  in  a  natural  way  as  he 
studies  the  lessons  and  prepares  himself  for  class 
work.  He  should  make  a  note  of  the  suggestions 
which  come  to  his  mind,  select  the  best  from  among 
them  and  give  them  to  the  students.  The  more  direct 
the  connection  between  the  word  in  the  lesson  and 
the  suggested  word,  the  better.  Certain  principles 
give  us  direct  connection.  Take  lesson  six ;  we  have 
the  word  "sugar"  and  immediately  it  suggests 
"sweet" ;  the  relation  between  sugar  and  sweet  is  that 
of  cause  and  effect,  and  this  is  one  of  the  great  laws 
by  which  the  mind  works.  Another  principle  equally 
direct  and  used  unconsciously  by  all  men,  foreign  as 
well  as  native-bom,  Polish  as  well  as  English,  is  that 
of  means  to  an  end.  In  the  same  lesson  we  have  the 
word  "knife,"  and  immediately  it  suggests  "cut,"  for 
that  is  the  purpose  of  the  tool,  and  if  the  teacher, 
when  teaching  this  sentence,  simply  takes  the  knife 
in  hand  and  makes  the  gesture  as  if  cutting  some- 
thing, the  class  will  immediately  understand  him  and 
will  remember  "cuts"  as  associated  with  "knife,"  for 
that  is  the  way  it  lies  in  their  experience.  Another 
principle  is  the  coupling  of  two  things  in  the  experi- 
ences of  life  ;  here  again  the  connection  is  most  direct. 
In  the  first  lesson  we  have  the  word  "sleep";  imme- 
diately the  word  "night"  suggests  itself,  for  we  sleep 


SIDELIGHTS  WHILE  TEACHING  61 

in  the  night;  in  the  same  lesson  we  have  the  word 
"shoes"  and  immediately  the  word  "feet"  comes  to  the 
mind,  for  shoes  and  feet  go  together.  I  will  mention 
one  more  principle,  that  of  contrast.  Take  lesson 
five,  in  which  we  find  the  word  "near"  and  imme- 
diately the  word  "far"  suggests  itself  by  way  of  con- 
trast. We  have  the  word  "square"  and  at  once  the 
opposite  "round"  comes  to  mind.  And  we  may  feel 
sure  that  these  laws  which  rule  in  our  minds  are  also 
regnant  in  the  mind  of  the  foreigner,  for  his  thinking 
machine  was  made  by  the  same  Hand  that  made  ours. 
We  have  thus  mentioned  four  principles  by  which  the 
direct  relation  between  words  are  traced.  There  are 
others  but  the  teacher  will  do  well  to  bear  these  in 
mind  and  by  their  aid  look  for  a  few  sidelights  in  the 
lesson  he  prepares  for  the  classroom.  I  wish  every 
teacher  might  memorize  the  four  principles  above 
described  and  for  his  convenience  they  are  brought 
together  and  illustrated. 

(1)  Cause  and  Effect :  as  rain,  wet ;  frost,  cold. 

(2)  Means  to  an  End:  as  razor,  shave ;  pen,  write. 

(3)  Coexistence :  as  rain,  umbrella  ;  cold,  overcoat. 

(4)  Contrast:  as  white,  black;  high,  low. 

It  is  needless  to  warn  the  teacher  that  the  use  of 
all  material  in  the  classroom  needs  discretion.  When 
a  class  is  new  and  the  men  incapable  of  forming  any 
English  sentences,  it  would  be  unwise  to  introduce 
any  extras.  These  men  for  the  first  three  or  four 
evenings  will  get  all  they  can  attend  to  in  the  regular 
lessons.  The  work  will  be  new,  the  method  of  instruc- 
tion is  different  from  that  they  saw  in  school  in  the 


62       ENGLISH  FOR  COMING  AMERICANS 

days  of  their  childhood,  they  will  be  suspicious  of 
everything,  some  may  be  critical,  and  the  teacher 
must  remove  their  suspicion,  allay  their  criticism, 
gain  their  confidence  by  producing  results,  for  these 
alone  will  appeal  to  the  practical  judgment  of  the 
foreigners.  When  the  men  are  familiar  with  the 
system,  when  they  and  the  teacher  know  each  other 
as  friends,  when  they  find  themselves  gaining  rapidly 
in  the  use  of  English  words  and  the  power  to  form 
sentences,  then  introduce  the  variations  and  they  will 
be  appreciated  by  the  pupils. 

As  the  work  progresses  the  teacher  should  also 
learn  to  play  skilfully  on  the  verb.  This  will  afford 
as  amusing  an  exercise  as  one  can  imagine.  Take  the 
verb  "open,"  how  many  of  us  think  in  what  a  variety 
of  ways  we  use  that  little  word.  I  open  the  door;  I 
open  the  book ;  I  open  the  bottle ;  I  open  my  mouth ;  I 
open  the  way ;  I  open  the  lock ;  I  open  the  box ;  I 
open  the  cut ;  the  mayor  opens  the  park ;  the  govern- 
ment opens  the  canal ;  the  operator  opens  the  fac- 
tory; and  in  addition  we  have  the  figurative  use  of 
the  word,  as  in  phrases  such  as,  to  open  one's  under- 
standing ;  to  open  one's  heart  to  a  friend ;  to  open  a 
passage  of  Scripture ;  to  open  a  question.  Besides 
this  transitive  use  of  the  verb,  the  intransitive  form 
gives  us  an  equal  variety  of  usage,  such  as,  the  door 
opens ;  the  wound  opens ;  the  earth  opens ;  the  flower 
opens ;  etc.  The  students,  when  they  come  to  Series 
B,  will  be  able  to  appreciate  some  sentence  building 
around  common  verbs  which  they  have  used  again 
and  again  in  the  progress  of  the  lessons.  It  is  inter- 
esting exercise  for  the  pupils.    Let  the  teacher  put  a 


SIDELIGHTS  WHILE  TEACHING  63 

common  verb  on  the  blackboard  and  ask  the  men  to 
build  simple  sentences  around  it,  and  immediately 
they  will  be  interested.  A  capable  teacher  was  in  the 
habit  of  doing  this  and  then  acting  as  in  the  game  of 
charades,  asking  the  pupils  to  form  a  sentence 
descriptive  of  what  he  was  doing,  using  in  it  the  verb 
on  the  blackboard.  He  wrote  the  word  "open," 
took  a  bottle  and  acted  the  part  of  opening  it,  and 
one  of  the  men  in  the  class  shouted :  "I  open  the  door 
of  the  bottle."  That  was  a  good  effort.  Another 
wrote  the  word  "begin"  and  acted  as  if  he  began  the 
day's  work;  an  Italian  in  the  class  responded:  "I 
be-gin-me  the  work" ;  there  was  a  laugh,  but  he  was 
on  his  way  to  learning  English.  Play  on  the  common 
verbs  which  are  constantly  used  by  us  in  daily  con- 
versation, so  that  the  brother  of  foreign  speech  may 
become  familiar  with  the  variety  of  uses  made  of 
them. 

In  this  connection  also  it  is  well  to  suggest  the  use 
of  games  in  which  the  linguistic  powers  of  the  men 
may  be  developed.  One  of  the  teachers  of  foreigners 
has  several  games  which  he  has  his  men  play.  They 
are  children's  games  but  the  men  find  diversion  in  the 
use  of  them.  They  guess  what  the  leader  has  in  mind, 
he  telling  some  of  the  qualities  of  the  article ;  when 
the  right  answer  is  given,  the  leader  then  asks  one  of 
the  men  to  tell  all  he  knows  about  the  object.  A 
simple  story  is  made  up  by  each  student  supplying 
a  word  as  the  teacher  asks  for  a  noun,  a  verb,  an 
adjective,  a  pronoun  and  a  conjunction;  these  he 
writes  on  a  slip  of  paper  and  then  reads  it  to  the 
amusement  of  the  class.     The  nature  of  the  game 


64      ENGLISH  FOR  COMING  AMERICANS 

must  be  adapted  to  the  capacity  of  the  students ;  the 
teacher  also  must  have  tact  and  skill  in  leading  men 
in  such  a  game  so  as  to  secure  the  maximum  result  as 
far  as  amusement  and  instruction  are  concerned. 

When  the  class  is  studying  Series  B  and  C,  the  con- 
versation cards  accompanying  these  series  are  to  be 
used  as  a  game.  The  sentences  are  simple  and  they 
relate  to  the  game.  If  used  discreetly  they  will  aid 
the  students  in  the  arts  of  reading  and  conversation, 
as  well  as  afford  the  teacher  an  admirable  oppor- 
tunity to  correct  the  pronunciation  and  the  enuncia- 
tion of  the  men.  The  teacher  should  speed  up  the 
pupils  when  the  conversation  cards  are  used  so  that 
they  may  promptly  reply  to  the  question  asked,  and 
thus  aid  the  brain  and  the  tongue  in  the  use  of 
English.  He  should  also  be  watchful  that  the  stu- 
dents give  the  correct  answer  and  for  this  purpose 
he  must  keep  ever  near  him  the  guiding  card.  The 
use  of  the  cards,  however,  is  to  be  regarded  as  that 
of  a  crutch — a  thing  to  be  laid  aside  when  it  has 
served  its  purpose;  and  the  skilful  teacher  will  not 
depend  too  much  upon  the  cards,  but  will  lead  the 
men  to  simple  conversation  without  the  use  of  any 
visual  sentences. 

It  is  important  for  the  teacher  to  take  some  pains 
to  correct  the  mispronunciation  of  the  men.  I  knew 
a  young  man  who  for  six  months  was  trying  to  say 
the  word  "than"  as  an  English-speaking  man  would 
pronounce  it.  When  he  did  finally  succeed  in  getting 
the  right  sound  there  was  no  happier  man  than  he  in 
the  town.  All  the  Germanic  and  Slavic  peoples  have 
considerable  trouble  with  the  "w,"  they  invariably  say 


SIDELIGHTS  WHILE  TEACHING  65 

"west"  for  "vest."  It  takes  time  to  correct  the  pecu- 
liarities of  pronunciation  of  various  peoples.  The 
teacher,  however,  will  soon  be  able  to  detect  them  in 
a  group  of  twenty  men  as  readily  as  the  skilled  con- 
ductor of  a  stringed  band  detects  the  slightest  dis- 
cord on  the  part  of  one  of  the  players.  The 
difficulties  experienced  by  foreign-speaking  men  in 
their  effort  to  pronounce  English  accurately  is  as 
varied  as  their  nationalities.  The  Finn  has  difficulty 
with  certain  sounds  of  which  the  Italian  knows 
nothing,  while  the  Syrian  finds  it  hard  to  pronounce 
some  letters  which  are  easy  to  the  Greek.  It  is  the 
business  of  the  teacher  to  note  these  peculiarities 
according  to  the  ethnic  character  of  the  group  he 
teaches,  and  from  the  very  beginning  guard  his 
pupils  against  mispronunciation. 

The  best  way  to  help  the  students  over  their  diffi- 
culties is  to  show  them  how  we  adjust  our  organs  of 
speech  when  uttering  certain  sounds.  Have  them 
adjust  the  lips,  teeth  and  tongue  as  they  should  be 
adjusted  in  trying  to  make  the  sounds  you  make. 
They  will  not  be  able  to  do  it  in  a  night  and  don't 
worry  them  by  trying  too  often  the  same  night.  If 
they  cannot  get  it  after  half  a  dozen  trials,  be  cheer- 
ful and  go  on  with  the  lesson.  Next  time  you  will 
again  come  to  the  same  difficulty  and  again  try  by 
adjusting  your  lips  and  asking  them  to  follow  you. 
One  of  them  gives  you  back  the  sound  correctly  and 
you  say :  "You  have  It ;  good !  do  it  again,"  and  it  will 
not  be  long  before  each  member  of  the  class  is  able  to 
make  the  sound  correctly,  but,  of  course,  they  will 
relapse  into  the  old  way  when  they  forget  they  talk 


66      ENGLISH  FOR  COMING  AMERICANS 

English  and  the  sounds  of  their  mother  tongue  assert 
their  supremacy. 

It  is  just  as  easy  for  the  foreign-speaking  to  get 
the  correct  sound  of  Enghsh  words  as  it  is  for  them  to 
acquire  the  incorrect.  Thousands  of  foreigners  take 
their  first  lesson  in  English  from  a  fellow  countryman 
who  murders  our  speech.  If  every  alien  could  be 
brought  under  the  influence  of  some  English-speaking 
person  as  soon  as  he  comes  into  this  country,  it 
would  be  easy  to  teach  him  the  correct  pronunciation 
and  enunciation,  and  all  foreigners  would  talk  so 
that  we  could  understand  them.  I  think  it  is  a 
mistake  to  put  a  foreigner  who  cannot  pronounce  and 
enunciate  the  English  language  correctly  and  clearly, 
in  charge  of  a  class  of  foreigners.  It  is  true  that  he 
can  converse  with  them  in  their  mother  tongue,  but  I 
have  known  men  taught  English  by  their  countrymen 
and  the  defective  pronunciation  they  acquired  in  the 
classroom  clings  to  them  for  life.  Let  the  sympa- 
thetic, patient  and  large-hearted  English-speaking 
teacher  take  this  system,  and  if  he  has  ingenuity  to 
carry  out  the  suggestions  made  in  this  and  the  last 
chapter,  he  will  get  along  successfully  although  he 
cannot  speak  a  word  of  the  tongue  of  the  men  he 
teaches,  and  the  pupils  will  get  better  pronunciation 
than  if  taught  by  a  man  who  has  not  overcome  the 
difficulties  peculiar  to  his  people  in  speaking  the  Eng- 
lish language. 


CHAPTER  VI 

GRAMMAR  LESSONS  FOR  THE  COURSE 

I  HE  illustration  given  in  the  previous  section, 
"*"  showing  how  grammar  can  be  introduced  in 
conjunction  with  each  lesson,  is  designed  as  a  guide 
to  the  teacher  throughout  the  course.  No  lesson 
should  be  given  the  pupils  without  its  corresponding 
grammar  practice.  The  exercises  outlined  in  con- 
nection with  the  first  lesson  appear  very  simple  to 
us,  but  they  are  not  simple  to  the  learner  who  begins 
the  study  of  the  English  language.  It  is  not  enough 
to  drill  him  in  the  use  of  the  personal  pronouns  and 
the  present  tense  indicative  of  the  verbs  in  the  first 
lesson  only.  This  practice  should  be  continued  each 
time  the  class  meets  during  the  ten  lessons  of  the 
"Domestic  Series."  Our  aim  should  be,  not  simply  to 
show  the  class  the  variations  incident  to  the  change 
of  the  pronouns  or  of  the  subject  of  the  verb,  but  so 
to  drill  the  student  in  these  forms  that  he  will  in- 
stinctively observe  these  variations  when  the  sub- 
ject or  the  complement  of  the  verb  is  changed. 
This  can  be  attained  only  by  practice.  The  stu- 
dents will  come  in  time  to  comprehend  the  rules  of 
grammar,  but  they  cannot  be  expected  to  do  so 
when  they  begin  their  studies.  Indeed,  it  would  be 
unwise  to  inflict  upon  any  student  an  abstract  rule 
before  he  has  secured  such  practice  as  to  make  the 
statement  of  the  rule  superfluous.  Our  course  then 
is  to  give  the  class  practice — constant  practice,  in 


68      ENGLISH  FOR  COMING  AMERICANS 

simple  grammatical  forms  in  the  first  ten  lessons  of 
the  "Domestic  Series." 

I.     Grammar  Lessons  for  First  Series 

During  the  first  three  lessons  of  the  first  series, 
drill  the  class  in  the  present  tense  indicative  of  every 
sentence  which  begins  with  the  first  personal  pro- 
noun. Do  not  perplex  the  class  with  the  use  of 
"thou"  for  the  second  person  singular.  It  is  never 
used  in  colloquial  English  and  its  use  will  be  ex- 
plained later.  This  will  give  the  class  practice  in 
forty  different  sentences  on  three  or  four  different 
evenings,  and  the  uniformity  with  which  the  "s"  is 
added  to  the  verb  in  the  third  person  singular  will 
impress  itself  upon  every  mind. 

During  this  practice,  try  individual  pupils  now 
and  again,  and  see  if  each  can  conjugate  the  tense 
correctly.  If  one  makes  an  error,  ask  the  class  to 
correct  him. 

In  reviewing  the  first  lesson — and  each  lesson 
should  be  reviewed  before  the  next  following  is 
taught — write  on  the  blackboard : 

I  wash  myself. 
You  wash  yourself. 
He  washes  himself. 
We  wash  ourselves. 
You  wash  yourselves. 
They  wash  themselves. 

and  ask  each  one  to  write  it  down  in  his  blank  book. 
In  the  second  lesson  substitute  "the  man"  in  place 
of  "I"  and  ask  the  class  to  go  through  the  lesson. 


GRAMMAR  LESSONS  FOR  THE  COURSE   69 

Ask  the  class  to  write  out  the  present  tense  in- 
dicative of  the  first  sentence  in  the  second  lesson,  in- 
serting the  possessive  pronoun  before  the  word 
hatchet,  thus : 

I  look  for  my  hatchet. 
You  look  for  your  hatchet. 
He  looks  for  his  hatchet. 
We  look  for  our  hatchet. 
You  look  for  your  hatchet. 
They  look  for  their  hatchet. 

If  this  is  too  difficult  for  the  class,  write  it  on  the 
blackboard  and  ask  them  to  copy  the  same  in  their 
books. 

Take  the  sentence,  "Two  pieces  fall  to  the 
ground,"  and  ask  the  class  to  begin  with  "One 
piece  falls  to  the  ground"  and  continue  up  to  ten: 
thus,  "One  piece  falls,  etc..  Two  pieces  fall,  etc., 
Three  pieces  fall,  etc." 

In  the  third  lesson  substitute  "the  servant"  for 
"I"  and  ask  the  class  to  go  through  the  lesson. 

Change  "The  stove  gets  warm"  to  "I  get  warm" 
and  ask  the  class  to  give  you  the  present  tense  in- 
dicative. 

Write  on  the  blackboard : 

I  am  getting  warm.  We  are  getting  warm. 

You  are  getting  warm.  You  are  getting  warm. 

He  is  getting  warm.  They  are  getting  warm. 

and  ask  the  class  to  copy  it  in  their  blank  books. 

The  class  will  be  fairly  familiar  with  the  pronouns 
by  this  time.     Between  the  fourth  and  fifth  lessons 


70      ENGLISH  FOR  COMING  AMERICANS 

write  the  following  table  on  the  blackboard  and  let 
the  class  copy  it  in  their  blank  books. 


ONE— Singular 


The  Actor 


Acted    Upon       Noun 


The  One  With  a       Without  a      (Reflexive) 


Noun         On  the  Actor 


Man  and  Woman 

I 

me 

my 

mine 

myself 

Man  and  Woman 

you 

you 

your 

yours 

yourself 

Man  Only 

he 

him 

his 

his 

himself 

Woman  Only 

she 

her 

her 

hers 

herself 

Thing 

it 

it 

its 

itself 

MORE  THAN  ONE— -Plural 


The  Actors 

The  Ones 
Acted    Upon 

With  a 
Noun 

Without  a 
Noun 

(Reflexivk) 
On  the  Actors 

Men  and  Women 

we 

US 

our 

ours 

ourselves 

Men  and  Women 

you 

you 

your 

yours 

yourselves 

Men,  Women 

and  Things 

they 

them 

their 

theirs 

themselves 

The  next  step  is  to  put  this  table  into  practice  in 
the  subsequent  lessons  in  the  first  series,  so  that  the 
pupils  can  use  them  readily  and  accurately. 


GRAMMAR  LESSONS  FOR  THE  COURSE   71 

In  lesson  four,  substitute  for  "the  wife"  the  pro- 
noun "she"  in  sentences  5,  11  and  18.  Use  the 
plural  of  wife  in  sentence  11,  thus:  "The  wives  pour 
boiling  water  on  the  coffee,"  and  ask  the  students  to 
use  the  pronoun  "they"  in  the  following  four  sen- 
tences. 

Take  sentences  3  and  5,  and  write  them  on  the 
blackboard  as  follows : 

"The  kettle  is   empty   and  the  wife  fills   it 
with  water." 

Ask  the  class  what  did  the  wife  do. 

In  lesson  five  take  sentences  11  and  12  and  write 
them  on  the  blackboard  as  follows : 

"The   spoons    are   made   of   silver,   some   of 
them  are  small  and  some  large." 

Ask  what  does  them  refer  to  ? 

Do  the  same  with  sentences  8  and  9 : 

"The   knives    are    made    of    steel;    they   are 
sharp  to  cut  with." 

Change  this  sentence  to  the  singular: 

"The  knife  is  made  of  steel;  it  is  sharp  to 
cut  with." 

Ask  what  is  the  difference  in  these  sentences.     To 
what  do  ''they''  and  "it''  refer? 

In  lesson  sixth,  substitute  "she"  for  "I,"  and  ask 
the  class  to  go  through  the  lesson.  Substitute  "the 
men"  for  "I"  and  go  through  the  lesson  using  the 
pronoun  "they"   in  the  M,   3d,   4th,   5th   and  6th 


72       ENGLISH  FOR  COMING  AMERICANS 

sentences.  This  necessitates  certain  changes  such  as 
dropping  the  indefinite  article,  substituting  the 
plural  of  nouns,  and  changing  the  possessive  pro- 
nouns. See  if  the  class  can  make  these  changes.  If 
not,  write  the  sentences  on  the  blackboard  and  call 
attention  to  them. 

Now  substitute  for  "the  men,"  "the  women,"  and 
go  through  the  lesson.  Ask  why  "they"  is  the  same 
for  "men"  and  "women"  and  refer  to  the  table  of 
pronouns  which  they  copied  a  short  time  before. 

In  lesson  seventh,  ask  the  class  to  use  the  pro- 
noun "he"  as  often  as  possible  in  going  through  the 
lesson.  Write  on  the  blackboard,  "The  man  gets 
into  the  bathtub,  it  takes  the  soap."  Ask  the  class 
if  that  is  correct,  if  not,  why  not.'' 

Write  on  the  blackboard : 

"The  man  comes  home  dirty,  she  w^lks  into 
the  house." 

and  put  the  same  questions. 

In  the  eighth  lesson,  ask  the  class  to  recite  the 
numerals  up  to  twenty.  Write  them  on  the  black- 
board and  see  how  the  pupils  can  reproduce  them  in 
their  blank  books. 

Ask  the  class  to  conjugate  in  the  present  tense 
indicative  the  seventh  sentence: 

I  am  learning  a  trade 

You  are  learning  a  trade,  etc. 

Ask  the  class  to  write  "two/'  "too"  and  "to,"  and 
see  if  they  observe  any  difference  in  their  meaning 
in  the  lesson:  "two  boys,"  "too  old"  and  "to  write." 


GRAMMAR  LESSONS  FOR  THE  COURSE   73 

In  the  ninth  lesson,  write  the  following  sentences 
on  the  blackboard: 

The  father  goes  to  the  door;  he  opens  the 
door. 

Mr.  Smith  is  standing  on  the  porch;  the 
father  shakes  hands  with  him. 

Ask  the  class  to  tell  to  whom  does  "he"  refer,  and 
the  same  of  "him." 

Put  "Mrs.  Smith"  in  place  of  "Mr.  Smith"  and 
what  is  the  change  to  be  made  in  the  sentence? 

Put  "mother"  in  place  of  "father"  in  the  first 
sentence  and  what  is  the  change  needed  in  the  sen- 
tence ? 

Call  the  class's  attention  to  "Smith's  hand,"  "his 
hand,"  and  tell  them  that  the  phrase,  "the  hand  of 
Mr.  Smith,"  could  be  used. 

Write  the  following  on  the  blackboard  and  have 
the  class  copy  them  in  their  blank  books : 

man  woman  brother  sister 

husband     wife  grandfather  grandmother 

father         mother  uncle  aunt 

son  daughter  nephew  niece 

child  (boy  or  girl)  cousin  (man  or  woman) 

In  the  tenth  lesson,  write  the  following  sentences 
on  the  blackboard  and  ask  any  pupil  to  come  to  the 
blackboard  and  correct  them: 

I  reads  the  evening  paper. 

I  take  off  our  shoes  and  our  stockings. 

He  closes  your  eyes  to  sleep. 

We  take  off  its  clothes. 


74      ENGLISH  FOR  COMING  AMERICANS 

Write  the  words,  "stand  before,"  "stand  back  of," 
"stand  back,"  "stand  up,"  "stand  still,"  "stand 
straight,"  on  the  blackboard,  and  give  the  class  an 
acting  exhibition  of  their  several  meanings. 

Write  the  following  words  on  the  blackboard  and 
let  the  pupils  copy  them : 


bed-room 

bed-clothes 

bed-stead 

bed-ding 

bed-post 

bed-gown 

bed-side 

bed-fellow 

bed-tick 

bed-time 

bed-quilt 

If  the  grammar  work  outlined  in  connection  with 
the  ten  lessons  of  the  "Domestic  Series"  is  faithfully 
done,  the  students  will  possess  a  fair  knowledge  of 
the  pronouns  and  their  use,  also  the  use  of  the 
present  tense  indicative,  and  their  minds  will  have 
been  prepared  for  still  more  advanced  work  in  the 
subsequent  lessons. 

We  have  gone  into  detail  in  specifying  how  gram- 
mar work  can  be  grafted  on  each  lesson,  in  order 
that  the  teacher  may,  in  the  next  twenty  lessons, 
put  the  same  methods  into  practice  and  train  the 
students  in  the  elements  of  grammar  we  shall  now 
mention. 

II.     Grammar  Lessons  for  Second  Series 

The  teacher  in  taking  the  second  ten' lessons  of 
the  "Industrial  Series"  should  aim  at  progress,  and 
the  next  step  should  be  to  lead  the  class  to  write 


GRAMMAR  LESSONS  FOR  THE  COURSE   75 

simple  sentences  either  from  memory  or  from  the 
teacher's  dictation.  In  order  to  facilitate  this  pro- 
cess, we  have  not  prepared  large  charts  for  the 
series,  but  leave  it  to  the  teacher  to  have  the  lesson 
read  from  the  leaflets  and  then  supplement  the  writ- 
ing practice  by  dictating  simple  sentences  to  the 
pupils.  In  place  of  the  review  use  the  cards  for 
conversational  practice  and  introduce  relative  sen- 
tences as  in  review  work  in  the  first  series.  See  p.  41. 
The  grammar  lessons  to  be  grafted  on  the  second 
series  pertain  to : 

1.  The  Plural  of  Nouns 

2.  The  Comparison  of  Adjectives 

S.     The  Past  and  Future  Tenses  of  the  Verb 


1.     The  Plural  of  Nouns 

The  following  are  the  ways  the  plural  of  nouns 
is  formed: 

The  simplest  way  is  by  adding  s  to  the  singular: 
eye,  eye-s. 

When  the  noun  ends  in  s,  x,  z,  sh  and  ch  soft,  you 
cannot  form  the  plural  without  an  additional  sylla- 
ble, hence,  es  is  used :  glass,  glasses ;  box,  boxes ; 
fez,  fezzes ;  brush,  brushes ;  arch,  arches.  This  same 
rule  applies  to  verbs  in  the  third  person  singular  of 
the  present  tense  indicative,  and  for  the  same  reason : 
I  miss,  he  misses,  etc. 

Nouns  ending  in  ?/  preceded  by  a  consonant 
change  the  7/  to  i  and  add  es :  sky,  skies. 

Some  nouns  ending  in  o  preceded  by  a  consonant 


76      ENGLISH  FOR  COMING  AMERICANS 

form  the  plural  by  adding  es :  hero,  heroes ;  others 
take  s  only,  as  solo,  solos. 

The  following  nouns  ending  in  /  or  fe  change  the 
/  or  fe  into  ves  in  forming  the  plural:  wife,  wives; 
life,  lives ;  shelf,  shelves ;  self,  selves ;  leaf,  leaves ; 
calf,  calves ;  half,  halves ;  loaf,  loaves ;  elf,  elves ; 
beef,  beeves ;  wolf,  wolves ;  thief,  thieves. 

The  following  words  are  irregular  in  the  forma- 
tion of  their  plural :  ox,  oxen ;  child,  children ;  foot, 
feet ;  tooth,  teeth ;  man,  men  ;  woman,  women ;  mouse, 
mice ;  louse,  lice ;  goose,  geese. 

These  rules,  governing  the  formation  of  the  plural 
of  nouns,  are  not  given  here  in  order  that  the  teacher 
may  give  them  in  this  way  to  the  class  of  foreigners 
in  his  charge.  They  are  rather  given  for  his  con- 
venience, in  order  that  he  may  apply  them  to  nouns 
found  in  the  lessons,  for  the  rule  laid  down  in  a 
former  section  of  this  book  must  not  be  forgotten — 
to  graft  your  grammar  practice  upon  the  lesson 
known  to  the  pupil. 

The  pupils  already  know  many  nouns  which 
illustrate  these  rules.  The  simplest,  the  plural 
formed  by  s,  may  be  freely  illustrated  in  any  lesson. 
They  learn,  in  the  first  ten  lessons,  the  following 
nouns,  demanding  es  in  the  formation  of  the  plural: 
watch,  match,  glass,  porch. 

The  word  "family"  in  lesson  eight  illustrates  an- 
other rule. 

The  nouns  "wife"  in  lesson  four,  and  "knife"  in 
lesson  five,  illustrate  another  form. 

The  nouns  "man"  in  lesson  seven  and  "children" 
in  lesson  eight  illustrate  the  irregulars. 


GRAMMAR  LESSONS  FOR  THE  COURSE   77 

In  the  lessons  of  the  "Industrial  Series"  oppor- 
tunities will  be  found  to  illustrate  the  various  ways 
of  forming  the  plural  of  nouns.  The  teacher  should 
not  let  one  of  these  pass  without  improving  it.  The 
regular  formation  of  the  plural  will  be  soon  known 
to  the  students ;  the  following  nouns,  together  with 
analogous  ones  above  taken  from  the  lessons  in  the 
"Domestic  Series,"  will  bring  the  other  ways  of 
formation  of  the  plural  to  their  attention. 

Lesson  2.  "Fore-man" — "fore-men";  put  on  black- 
board "fore-woman" — "fore-women." 

Lesson  3.  "Foot" — "feet";  "brush" — "brushes";  "pol- 
ish"— "polishes" ;  "dry" — "dries." 

Lesson  4.     "Match" — "matches";    "butty" — "butties." 

Lesson  5.  "Push" — "pushes."  If  you  think  the  class 
can  comprehend,  illustrate  the  difference  between 
"rise"  and  "raise." 

Lesson  6.  "Go" — "goes";  "watchman" — "watchmen"; 
"boss" — "bosses" ;  "carry" — "carries." 

Lesson  7.  "Go"  —  "goes" ;  "foreman"  —  "foremen" ; 
"IH"^"I  will";  explain  a.m.  and  p.m. 

Lesson  8.      "Agency"  —  "agencies" ;       "go"  —  "goes" ; 

"money" — "moneys";    explain    "blacksmith's   shop" 

and  give  other  form. 
Lesson  Q.      "Foot"  —  "feet" ;       analogous       "tooth"  — 

"teeth,"  "goose" — "geese";  "cry" — "cries";  "carry" 

— "carries" ;  "dress" — "dresses." 
Lesson     10.       "Workman"  —  "workmen";      "family"  — 

"families" ;    "child" — "children" ;    "wife" — "wives." 

We  give  some  words  used  as  verbs  in  the  lessons 
under  contemplation,  for  the  reason  that  the  forma- 
tion of  the  third  person  singular  indicative  comes 


78       ENGLISH  FOR  COMING  AMERICANS 

under  the  same  rules  as  the  formation  of  the  plural 
of  nouns,  so  that  examples  of  either  kind  illustrate 
the  application  of  the  rules,  and  the  pupils  will  be 
able  to  see  how  in  both  cases  the  variations  are  made. 

2.     The  Comparison  of  Adjectives 

Adjectives  modify  nouns.  The  qualities  of  objects 
are  subject  to  degrees,  and  so  the  adjectives  descrip- 
tive of  these  qualities  must  express  the  relative  de- 
gree possessed  by  the  object. 

Adjectives  have  three  degrees:  the  positive,  the 
comparative  and  the  superlative. 

The  positive  degree  is  that  possessed  by  the  ad- 
jective in  its  simple  form:  white,  beautiful. 

The  comparative  degree  shows  that  one  of  two 
objects  possesses  the  quality  named  in  a  higher  or 
lower  degree  than  the  other:  whiter,  less  beautiful. 

The  superlative  degree  shows  that  the  object  re- 
ferred to  possesses  the  quality  named  in  the  highest 
or  lowest  degree  as  compared  with  all  others: 
whitest,  least  beautiful. 

There  are  three  ways  of  expressing  the  compari- 
son of  adjectives: 

(1)  Adjectives  of  one  syllable  and  many  of  two 
syllables  form  the  comparative  by  adding  r  or  er, 
and  the  superlative  by  adding  st  or  est  to  the  simple 
form :  white,  whiter,  whitest ;  noble,  nobler,  noblest ; 
long,  longer,  longest;  narrow,  narrower,  narrowest. 

(2)  Adjectives  of  two  or  more  syllables  form 
the  comparative  by  placing  "more"  or  "less,"  and  the 
superlative   by  placing  "most"     or   "least,"   before 


GRAMMAR  LESSONS  FOR  THE  COURSE   79 

the  simple  form:  glorious,  more  glorious,  most 
glorious ;  less  glorious,  least  glorious ;  diligent,  more 
diligent,  most  diligent;  less  diligent,  least  diligent. 

(3)  Some  adjectives  express  the  comparative 
and  superlative  degrees  in  an  irregular  manner: 
good,  better,  best;  bad,  worse,  worst. 

The  second  series  will  afford  ample  opportunities 
to  illustrate  these  ways  of  comparing  adjectives: 

Lesson  1.     "Fast,"       "faster/'       "fastest";       opposite, 

"slow/'  "slower/'  "slowest." 
Lesson  2.     "Good/'   "better,"   "best";   opposite,   "bad," 

"worse,"  "worst." 
Lesson  3.     "Black,"     "blacker,"     "blackest";     opposite, 

"white/'  "whiter,"  "whitest." 
Lesson  4.     "Safe,"    "safer,"    "safest";    opposite,    "un- 
safe," "more  unsafe/'  "most  unsafe." 
Lesson  5.     "Loose,"      "looser/'      "loosest";      opposite, 

"fast/'  "faster,"  "fastest." 
Lesson  6.     Some  words  used  as  adjectives  do  not  admit 

of  comparison;  illustrate  by  "steel"  in  steel  mill. 
Lesson  7.     "Busy,"       "busier,"       "busiest";      opposite, 

"idle,"  "more  idle,"  "most  idle." 

Lesson  8.  "Common,"  "more  common,"  "most  com- 
mon"; opposite,  "uncommon,"  "more  uncommon/' 
"most  uncommon";  "stout,"  "stouter/'  "stoutest"; 
opposite,  "thin,"  "thinner,"  "thinnest";  "strong/' 
"stronger,"  "strongest";  opposite,  "weak,"  "weak- 
er," "weakest." 

"Hard/'  "harder/'  "hardest";  opposite  as  an  adverb, 
"leisurely,"  "more  leisurely,"  "most  leisurely." 
When  aoplied  to  substance,  "soft,"  "softer," 
"softest." 

**Long/'  "longer,"  "longest";  opposite,  "short," 
"shorter,"  "shortest." 


80      ENGLISH  FOR  COMING  AMERICANS 

"Heavy,"    "heavier/'    "heaviest";    opposite,    "light," 

"lighter,"  "lightest." 
"Hot,"  "hotter,"  "hottest";  opposite,  "cold,"  "colder," 

"coldest." 
Lesson  9-     Heavy,  as  above.     Idle,  as  above. 

The  opposite  of  the  adjectives  used  in  the  lesson 
is  given,  for  we  learn  many  things  by  contrast,  and 
the  students  should  get  as  far  as  possible  the  ad- 
jectives in  pairs — the  one  the  antithesis  of  the  other. 
The  same  word,  as  "hard"  in  lesson  eight,  has  dif- 
ferent meanings,  so  that  the  antithesis  is  not  the 
same  in  each  instance.  The  foreigner  may  find  it 
difficult  to  understand  these  and  the  teacher  must 
exercise  his  discretion  as  to  whether  it  is  wise  or  not 
to  submit  them  to  the  pupils. 

In  these  lessons  attention  can  be  called  to  the  in- 
definite and  definite  articles :  a,  an,  the. 

"A"  or  "an"  is  used  before  a  noun  to  designate 
any  one  of  a  group :  a  man  ^  any  one  of  the  genus 
homo;  an  apple  =  any  one  of  that  species.  Being 
thus  limited  in  its  use  to  one  of  a  class  it  cannot  be 
used  with  a  noun  designating  more  than  one. 

"An"  is  always  used  before  words  having  an  open 
vowel  sound :  an  earl ;  an  honest  man ;  an  onion. 

"The"  is  used  to  point  out  some  definite  person 
or  thing:  the  man  is  one  already  known,  one  of 
whom  we  speak;  the  horse,  that  is,  the  one  well 
known,  or  the  representative  of  the  species.  It  can 
be  used  before  singular  and  plural  nouns. 

This  information  relative  to  the  general  use  of 
parts  of  speech  which  are  so  frequently  used,  can  be 
woven  into  the  lessons  of  the  second  series. 


GRAMMAR  LESSONS  FOR  THE  COURSE   81 

8.     The  Past  and  Futuee  Tenses  of  the  Verb 

The  practice  in  verb  conjugation  in  the  "Indus- 
trial Series"  should  be  especially  directed  to  the  past 
and  future  tenses  of  the  verb. 

The  students  are  now  conversant  with  the  use  of 
the  pronouns;  they  are  familiar  with  the  conjuga- 
tion of  the  present  tense  indicative;  the  next  step 
is  the  past  and  the  future  tenses. 

The  four  great  divisions  of  time  are,  a  day,  a 
week,  a  month,  a  year.  The  foreigners  know  these 
divisions  as  well  as  we  do.  Each  of  these  periods  of 
time  may  be  present,  past  or  future.  When  in  the 
present,  the  forms  are:  "to-day,"  "this  week,"  "this 
month,"  "this  year";  in  the  past  the  forms  are: 
"yesterday,"  "last  week,"  "last  month,"  "last  year" ; 
in  the  future  the  forms  are:  "to-morrow,"  "next 
week,"  "next  month,"  "next  year." 

We  constantly  use  these  divisions  and  so  do  the 
peoples  of  every  nation.  Men,  everywhere,  label 
their  acts  as  they  stow  them  away  in  their  mind, 
according  as  their  relation  may  be  to  definite  periods 
of  time.  When  these  are  recalled,  we  use  a  qualify- 
ing word  or  phrase  which  locates  the  act  or  experi- 
ence in  time.  Never  do  we  speak  of  our  experi- 
ences without  these  qualifying  phrases :  "Yesterday, 
I  learned  my  lesson";  "To-day,  I  go  to  market"; 
"To-morrow,  I  shall  go  to  town."  Illiterate  persons 
use  the  correct  verbal  forms  with  these  time  qualify- 
ing phrases.  They  do  it  from  habit.  When  the 
time  phrase  is  uttered,  the  correct  verbal  form  fol- 
lows as  naturally  as  one  foot  follows  the  other  in 


82       ENGLISH  FOR  COMING  AMERICANS 

walking.  It  is  an  unconscious  performance  and  is 
the  result  of  practice.  What  we  must  aim  at  in 
these  exercises  is  to  train  the  non-English-speaking 
into  the  same  habit,  so  that  when  they  use  any  of 
the  time  phrases  the  correct  verbal  form  will  follow. 

This  can  be  done  in  the  same  way  as  the  practice 
in  the  present  indicative  was  given  the  pupil  in  the 
previous  lessons.  Graft  it  on  the  lesson  already 
known  to  the  pupils. 

The  teacher  can  take  any  lesson  with  which  the 
class  is  familiar.  We  take  the  last  one  in  the  "Do- 
mestic Series."  Ask  the  members  of  the  class  to  put 
the  phrase  "last  week"  before  the  lesson  and  go 
through  it.  The  verb  changes  in  the  English  lan- 
guage as  it  does  in  their  native  tongue. 

Last  week,  I  read  the  evening  paper. 

Last  week,  I  laid  down  the  paper  on  the  table. 

Last  week,  I  took  off  my  shoes  and  stockings. 

Last  week,  I  got  up  from  the  chair. 

Etc.,  etc.,  etc. 

Go  through  the  lesson  in  this  manner,  pointing  out 
the  various  changes  in  the  verb.  The  past  tense  is 
regularly  formed  by  adding  -d  or  -ed  to  the  present. 
This  is  illustrated  in  the  seventh,  eighth,  eleventh, 
fourteenth  and  fifteenth  sentences.  Show  this  by 
writing  the  verbs  on  the  blackboard  showing  the 
radical  and  variable  elements ;  thus :  open-ed ; 
light-ed;  turn-ed;  climb-ed;  close-d.  Tell  the  class 
that  the  rule  is  to  affix  this  syllable  to  the  verb. 

Then  show  how  some  verbs  form  the  past  by  a 
change  in  the  body  of  the  verb,  such  as:  lay,  laid; 


GRAMMAR  LESSONS  FOR  THE  COURSE    83 

take,  took ;  get,  got ;  go,  went ;  stand,  stood ;  sleep, 
slept ;  or  by  using  the  same  form,  as :  put,  put. 

These  irregular  verbs  will  afford  amusement  to  the 
pupils.  They  will  be  inclined  to  form  the  past  tense 
in  the  regular  way,  but  when  you  show  them  that 
this  is  an  exception,  it  will  afford  amusement  and  will 
add  to  the  interest  of  the  lesson. 

This  practice  in  the  past  tense  should  be  persisted 
in  for  the  next  three  lessons,  using  the  various 
phrases,  "yesterday,"  "last  week,"  "last  month," 
"last  year,"  as  the  judgment  of  the  teacher  sug- 
gests. In  these  four  lessons  no  verb  should  be  passed 
without  calling  the  class's  attention  to  it,  and  they 
should  be  drilled  in  the  present  and  past  of  the 
irregular  verbs  in  these  lessons. 

In  the  fourth  lesson  of  the  second  series,  take  up 
the  future  tense.  Prefix  the  time  phrases,  "to- 
morrow," "next  week,"  "next  month,"  "next  year," 
and  have  the  class  go  through  them,  thus : 

To-morrow,  the  miner  will  go  underground. 
To-morrow,  the  miner  will  take  a  match. 
To-morrow,  the  miner  will  strike  the  match. 
To-morrow,  the  match  will  be  lighted. 
Etc.,  etc.,  etc. 

In  this  lesson  use  the  auxiliary  "will"  throughout. 

In  lesson  five  use  the  auxiliary  "shall"  throughout. 
These  are  the  two  helping  verbs  of  the  future  tense, 
and  although  the  class  should  not  be  perplexed  just 
3^et  with  the  fine  distinction  in  the  use  of  the  aux- 
iliaries, they  should,  nevertheless,  know  that  both  of 
them  are  used  in  this  relation. 


84      ENGLISH  FOR  COMING  AMERICANS 

In  lesson  six,  "will"  should  be  used  with  one  time 
phrase  and  "shall"  with  another. 

In  the  remaining  four  lessons,  practice  should  be 
given  in  the  present,  the  past  and  the  future  tenses, 
but  always  with  the  time  phrases.  In  this  way  the 
grammatical  sense  of  the  class  will  be  trained,  so 
that  the  members  will  use  the  forms  correctly.  Of 
course,  the  teacher  will  go  through  these  lessons  in 
the  various  persons,  "I,"  "you,"  "he,"  etc.,  as  in  the 
first  series. 

The  teacher  will  also  keep  in  mind  grammar  ex- 
ercises given  the  pupils  in  former  lessons,  and  be 
alert  for  opportunities  to  recall  what  was  taught 
them,  for  in  discreet  revision  lies  the  secret  of  effi- 
ciency. Thus  in  any  and  all  of  these  lessons,  the 
teacher  will  not  apply  himself  to  one  grammatical 
practice,  but  will  in  the  course  of  the  lesson  test  the 
class  on  this  or  that  point,  to  which  their  attention 
has  been  already  called.  In  this  way  the  foreigner, 
if  guided  kindly  but  persistently,  will  fall  into  the 
habit  of  talking  and  writing  English  correctly. 

III.     Grammar  Lessons  for  Third  Series 

Our  aim  in  this  third  series  should  be  to  give  the 
scholars  an  idea  of  the  different  verbal  forms,  and 
also  to  use  the  course  as  a  field  for  general  review 
of  the  grammar  work  done  in  the  previous  lessons. 

The  verbal  forms  to  which  attention  should  be 
called  are:  the  potential,  the  imperative,  the  pro- 
gressive, the  emphatic,  and  the  interrogative. 

The  potential  verbal  form  is  used  to  express  an 


GRAMMAR  LESSONS  FOR  THE  COURSE    85 

assertion,  permission,  power,  necessity,  determina- 
tion or  obligation,  by  means  of  the  auxiliaries, 
"may,"  "can,"  "must,"  "might,"  "could,"  "would" 
or  "should." 

The  imperative  is  used  to  express  a  command  or 
request.  Since  this  is  addressed  generally  to  the 
second  person  directly,  the  pronoun  is  generally 
suppressed. 

The  progressive  carries  in  it  a  flavor  of  the  future 
tense,  and  points  to  continued  action  facing  the  im- 
mediate future.  It  is  formed  by  adding  the  present 
participle  to  the  different  forms  of  the  verb,  "to  be." 

The  emphatic  is  closely  aligned  with  the  impera- 
tive, but  has  in  it  the  element  of  entreaty,  persua- 
sion, and  urgency;  it  is  formed  by  placing  the 
auxiliary  "do,"  "does,"  "did,"  before  the  simple  form 
of  the  verb,  and  is  always  joined  to  the  active  voice. 

The  interrogative  asks  questions,  and  is  character- 
ized by  the  verb  taking  first  place  in  the  sentence. 
The  auxiliaries,  "will,"  "can,"  "do,"  "does"  and 
"did,"  are  often  used  in  this  form. 

These  verbal  forms  are  given  here  as  a  guide  to 
the  teacher  in  the  grammar  lessons  to  be  given  in 
conjunction  with  the  Third  Series. 

We  suggest  the  following  grammar  exercises  in 
conjunction  with  this  series. 

Lesson    1.      Put    this    lesson    into    the    progressive 
form,  thus : 

I  am  sitting  on  the  chair  near  the  table. 
I  am  taking  a  sheet  of  writing  paper. 
I  am  taking  the  pen  from  the  inkstand. 
Etc.,  etc.,  etc. 


86       ENGLISH  FOR  COMING  AMERICANS 

Take  the  next  six  sentences  and  go  through  the 
progressive  form  in  the  present  tense,  thus : 

I  am  signing  my  name  to  the  letter. 
You  are  signing  your  name  to  the  letter. 
He  is  signing  his  name  to  the  letter. 
We  are  signing  our  names  to  the  letter. 
You  are  signing  your  names  to  the  letter. 
They  are  signing  their  names  to  the  letter. 

Call  attention  to  the  following: 

Address — addresses;  box — boxes. 
Walk  back,  walk  up,  walk  down. 

Lesson  2.      Compare  "to,"  "too,"  and  "two." 

Take  the  first  six  sentences  in  the  lesson  and  put 
the  auxiliary  "do"  before  the  verb,  thus : 

I  do  go  to  the  post  office. 

I  do  look  for  the  window  where  the  stamps  are  sold. 

I  do  stand  before  the  window. 

The  clerk  does  come  to  the  window. 

I  do  ask  for  five  two-cent  stamps. 

The  clerk  does  give  me  five  two-cent  stamps. 

Conjugate    these    six    sentences    in    the    present 
tense,  thus: 


I  do  go  to  the  post  office. 
You  do  go  to  the  post  office. 
He  does  go  to  the  post  office. 
We  do  go  to  the  post  office. 
You  do  go  to  the  post  office. 
They  do  go  to  the  post  office. 


GRAMMAR  LESSONS  FOR  THE  COURSE    87 

Take  the  same  sentences  and  insert  the  auxiliary, 
"may,"  thus: 

I  may  go  to  the  post  office. 

I  may  look  for  the  window  where  the  stamps  are 

sold. 
I  may  stand  before  the  window. 
The  clerk  may  come  to  the  window. 
I  may  ask  for  five  two-cent  stamps. 
The  clerk  may  give  me  five  two-cent  stamps. 

Change  the  sentences  to: 

May  I  go  to  the  post  office? 
May  I  look  for,  etc. 
Etc.,  etc.,  etc. 

Explain  to  the  class  the  difference  in  these  verbal 
forms. 

Lesson  3.     Interrogatives  in  2d,  8th  and  17th  lines. 

Review  plural  of  nouns  and  substitute  nouns   of 
like  meaning. 

Policeman — policemen ;  depot — station. 
Clerk — ticket  agent. 

Review  "stand"  used  with  words  denoting  various 
positions  (page  74). 

Stand  before — stand  back  of,  etc. 

Illustrate   imperative    form   by    dropping    "I"    in 
sentences  12-17. 

Lesson  4.     Ask  for  the  plural  of  trunk,  box,  chest. 
Gateman — gatemen;  coach — coaches;  pass — passes. 


88       ENGLISH  FOR  COMING  AMERICANS 

Explain  and  illustrate  difference  between:  were, 
where,  ware  and  wear. 

Explain  the  difference  in  going  up,  going  down, 
going  forward,  going  backward,  going  into,  going 
out  of. 

Take  the  last  five  sentences  and  insert  the  aux- 
iliary "must,"  thus : 

I  must  get  up  from  my  seat. 

I  must  leave  the  train. 

I  must  go  to  the  baggage-room  for  my  trunk. 

I  must  give  the  clerk  my  check. 

He  must  bring  me  my  trunk. 

Change  again  the  position  of  the  auxiliary,  thus : 

Must  I  get  up  from  my  seat? 
Must  I  leave  the  train  ? 
Etc.,  etc.,  etc. 

This  illustrates  the  way  grammar  practice  should 
be  introduced  in  these  lessons.  In  the  remaining 
lessons  the  teacher  should  carefully  study  the  exer- 
cises to  be  given.  I  He  should  know  exactly  how  much 
grammar  practice'he  is  going  to  give,  and  adapt  the 
lessons  to  the  capacit}^  of  the  students)  In  the  re- 
mainder of  the  course,(his  aim  should  oe  to  drill  the 
students  in  the  pronomis,  the  plural  of  nouns,  the 
comparison  of  adjectives,  the  use  of  the  articles, 
the  verbal  forms,  and  the  three  leading  tenses,  so 
that  these  rudiments  of  grammar  will  form  a  founda- 
tion upon  which  future  work  may  be  built.) 


CHAPTER  VII 

READING  AND  WRITING 

I  HE  following  question  has  often  been  asked: 
•*"  "Many  foreigners  do  not  know  how  to  read 
and  write  in  their  own  tongue,  and  is  it  not  necessary 
to  teach  them  these  arts  before  giving  them  these  les- 
sons to  read  and  to  write?"  Let  us  reason  this 
question  a  moment. 

Language  we  said  was  made  up  of  certain  sounds 
agreed  upon  by  men  as  channels  of  communication 
of  ideas  and  feelings.  Writing  is  the  employment  of 
certain  signs  to  represent  the  sounds  used  in  speak- 
ing. The  signs,  as  the  language-sounds,  differ  in 
different  countries,  but  the  further  back  we  go  the 
greater  similarity  we  find  in  the  symbols  used  by 
civilized  men.  These  early  signs  are  far  removed 
from  the  signs  used  by  modern  western  nations,  and 
they  were  fewer  in  number.  The  alphabet,  as  every 
great  fact  of  human  invention,  is  a  development.  If 
we  could  go  back  far  enough  to  the  beginnings  of 
history,  and  witness  the  first  steps  in  the  wonderful 
invention,  we  should  doubtless  see  an  ingenious  leader 
making  a  picture  which  represented  a  group  of 
sounds.  Parts  of  this  picture  became  associated  with 
distinct  sounds,  and  later  these  various  symbols  were 
united  to  represent  combinations  of  sounds  which 
conveyed  an  idea  or  a  feeling.  Still  later  men  aimed 
to  represent  all  sounds  used  in  speaking.  If  any 
people  should  succeed  in  doing  this,  that  language 


90      ENGLISH  FOR  COMING  AMERICANS 

would  have  a  perfect  alphabet.  No  language  has 
attained  this  perfection,  and  especially  is  this  true 
of  the  English  language.  We  use  about  fprty^four^ 
distinct  sounds  in  speaking  and  have  only  twenty-six 
letters  to  represent  them.  This  adds  to  the  difficulty 
of  beginners  learning  to  read  the  language,  and  is 
most  perplexing  to  men  of  a  foreign  tongue  who  try 
to  acquire  accuracy  in  reading  and  writing  English. 
We  have  mute  letters,  different  sounds  are  repre- 
sented by  the  same  letter  and  the  same  letters  have 
different  sounds,  two  letters  sometimes  represent  one 
sound  and  two  sounds  are  represented  by  the  same 
letter. 

From  this  brief  reflection  we  learn  the  following 
principles : 

1.  The  natural  way  to  learn  to  read  is  to  lead 
the  adult  foreigner,  who  is  not  able  to  read  in  his       ji 
mother  tongue,  to  an  understanding  that  the  writ- 
ten or  printed  characters  represent  the  lesson  which 
he  knows  and  can  recite.* 

2.  That  we  should  aid  him  by  artificial  signs  ac- 
companying certain  letters,  so  that  each  sound  in 
the  language  may  be  represented  by  a  sign.  In  this 
way,  the  pupil,  by  the  aid  of  these  crutches,  will  be 
able  to  familiarize  himself  with  the  several  sounds  of 
the  letters  and  words.  In  a  short  time,  after  some 
practice,  he  will  become  conversant  with  the  pe- 
culiarities of  English  spelling  and  be  able  to  dis- 
pense with  the  crutches. 


*Tn  my  experience  I  have  found  men,  who  cannot  read  in  their  Own 
language,  reading  the  lesson  taught  when  the  chart  is  put  before  them. 
I  have  not  found  a  single  instance  yet  where  a  resort  to  the  analytic 
and  synthetic  method  proposed  in  the  following  pages  is  necessary. 


READING  AND  WRITING  £l  7 

S.     Words  are  made  up  of  two  elements,  the  radi-    / 
cai  and  the  variable.     The  teacher  in  this  course  in   / 
preparatory  English  should,  on  all  occasions,  divide  / 
the  words  into  their  radical  and  variable  elements,  / 
and  let  the  student  see  the  variation.     It  is  a  thing/ 
for   the   eye    to    see,    and   the    rules    governing   the/ 
changes  in  verbs,  nouns,  adjectives  and  adverbs  willj 
help   the   pupils   to  understand   the   variations   ana 
teach  them  how  to  make  the  variations.  \ 

In  order  to  carry  out  these  suggestions  we  sub- 
mit the  following  arrangement  of  the  alphabet, 
which  can  be  readily  applied  by  the  teacher. 

We  have  already  called  attention  to  the  impor- 
tance to  the  students  of  the  right  adjustment  of  the 
lips,  teeth  and  tongue  in  the  execution  of  certain 
sounds.  If  we  classify  the  alphabet  according  to 
the  organs  chiefly  used  in  the  enunciation  of  the  dif- 
ferent letters,  it  will  be  easier  for  the  pupil  to  un- 
derstand that  these  symbols  represent  sounds  exe- 
cuted by  these  organs  of  speech. 

The  vowel  and  diphthong  sounds  are  made  by  the 
action  of  the  vocal  organs  modifying  the  breath  as 
it  passes  from  the  larynx  to  the  outer  edge  of  the 
lips.  The  classification  over  the  page  is  denominated 
according  to  the  location  of  the  modification  of  the 
breath  as  it  passes  the  organs  of  speech. 


I 

t 

o 


(» 

.CO 

.a 


I 


•S  .9  .S  .S 
§  S  §  S  S 


5  .$3  A  «  ^ 


.9  •?  :a 


.9 


'o  io  )o 


c 
o 

•43 


o 

c 

& 


.3  ^  ^ 

g   ^   ^ 
S   8   5 

i^  'tf  **-* 

03      CQ      cQ 

poo 


^  pG  M  m 

^  *»  4^  -^ 

»-•  M  >4  ^ 

O  O  O  o 

^  ^  ^  > 

S3  p  :3  03 


«3    w    w  03 

g  &  ^  ^ 

g  ?  g  ^ 

•T3  na  -d  'O 

CJ      0)      4>  OJ 

•TJ   nS   "TS  TS 


^^  i  i  §  3 


CO     c8 


eo   »-J   t-H   i-j   •— I 

4^     cd     eO     <«     cs 


^   ^   ^   3 
03     CO     od     «] 

P^    Oi    h-i    H-l 


READING  AND  WRITING  93 

A  diphthong  is  a  combination  of  two  vowel  sounds. 
The  pure  diphthong  sounds  are  four : 

i  as  in  ice,  partaking  of  the  sounds  of  a  in  ask  and  ^ 

in  tYn. 
ou  and  otv  as  in  out,  down,  partaking  of  the  sounds  of  a 

in  ask  and  oo  in  foot. 
oi  and  oy  as  in  oil,  boy,  partaking  of  the  sounds  of  a 

in  all  and  i  in  ill.  ^      ^ 

v  as  in  lute,  partaking  of  the  sounds  of  i  in  ill  and  oo 

in  food. 

The  letters  y  and  w  have  the  quality  of  serai- 
vowels  in  some  relations,  but  the  four  sounds  of  the 
y  can  be  represented  by  i  and  that  of  w  by  w. 

The  consonants  are  twent3'-one  in  number  and 
must  represent  twenty-five  sounds.  If  we  discount 
the  letters  c,  q,  j  and  a?,  which  could  be  dispensed 
with,  there  arc  only  seventeen  letters  to  serve  us  in 
the  representation,  which  adds  to  the  difficulty  of 
the  learner. 

The  letters  are  pronounced  by  the  aid  of  the  or- 
gans of  articulation,  and  are  arranged  below  ac- 
cording to  the  organs  chiefly  used  in  pronunciation. 
The  student,  observing  the  classification,  will  know 
what  organ  or  organs  arc  called  into  action  in 
articulating  them,  and  will  be  aided  in  the  art  of 
reading.  We  have  classified  the  letters  under  the 
denominations  of  lip,  teeth,  palatal  letters  and  com- 
binations of  the  same. 


94      ENGLISH  FOR  COMING  AMERICANS 


THE  COKSONANTS 


Labial 
Letters 

jp  as  in  pet. 
6  as  in  bet. 
7p  as  in  was. 

m  as  in  mat. 

Dental 
Letters 


f  <  as  in  ten, 
d  as  in  den. 
ch  as  in  chess, 
j,  g  as  in  jet,  gin. 
c,  s  as  in  cent,  sent. 
8,  c,  s,  X  as  in  zero,  discern,  xebec 
8h,ch,s  )    as  in  show,  chaise,  sure. 
£,i  f  as  in  appreciate,  action. 

1,  s,  g  as  in  vision,  azure,  mirage. 


Palatal 
Letters 


{ 


k,  c,  q  as  in  kit,  cat,  qnick. 
g  as  in  gum. 
y  as  in  yet. 


Nasal  sounding,  H  as  in  rung,  rink. 


Lips  St 

Teeth 

Letters 

Tongue 
&  Teeth 
Letters 

Palate 
ft  Teeth 
Letters 


J  f,ph,gh&ai 
I  V  and  /  as  in 

I  th  <ha 
I  th  as  I 

{SB  (hare 
gf  as  in 

I 


in  fun,  phiz,  tough, 
vine,  of. 


ard)  as  in  thin, 
in  then. 


rd)  as  in  ax  (kse). 
example  (gse). 


Palate  [  2  as  in  let. 

ft  Tongue    J  r  as  in  rat 

Letters  I  n  as  in  net 


READING  AND  WRITING  95 

In  this  classification  attention  ne^d  only  be  called 
to  the  following : 

ch^  sh,  Sy  c  and  1  having  the  same  sound  to  be  known 

by under  the  letters. 

#»  z  a,nd  g  have  closely  akin  sound  but  softer,  to  be 

known  by        over  the  letters. 
k,  c,  qy  having  same  sound;  c  only  need  be  marked; 

place  ;  under  it. 
5»  Sy  by  Xy  haviug  same  sound,  to  be  marked  by  *  over 

the  letters. 
j  and  gy  having  same  sound ;  g  need  only  be  marked 

by  ^   over  it. 
^  and  ng  identical  in  sound ;  n  need  only  be  marked 

by  ***   over  it. 
X  and  x^'y  let  the  compound  "kse  be  the  natural  sound 

of  the  letter,  but  when  the  sound  is  s^e  put  ;^ 

under  it. 
th  as  in  "the"  may  be  taken  as  the  natural  sound  of 

the  combination. 
ih  as  in  "thin"  may  be  marked  by  putting  the  curve 

^   under  the  letters. 
*  has  its  natural  sound  in  this  arrangement  as  in 

sent. 
c  has  the  same  sound  as  in  cent. 
"h  is  made  by  the  free  passage  of  the  air  through  the 

"mouth,  but  in  combination  with  other  letters  it 

has  a  distinct  consonant  sound;  this  is  seen  in 

ch=.tsh;  ph  and  gh=^f;   thy  sh  and  chy  as 

above  indicated.     Sometimes  h  is  silent. 

There  are  other  letters  which  are  silent:   e  at  the 
end  of  a  word,  as  in  fate ;  letters  doubled  in  a  word 


96      ENGLISH  FOR  COMING  AMERICANS 

have  only  the  first  pronounced ;  this  is  also  the  case 
when  vowels  meet  in  words  and  do  not  form  diph- 
thongs, as  beauty.  Some  consonants  are  also  silent, 
as  p  in  prompt,  b  in  plumb,  t  in  often,  g  in  gnat, 
k  in  knot,  c  in  scent,  n  in  damn,  gh  in  ought,  w  in 
bowl,  I  in  alms.  The  best  way  to  deal  with  these  is 
to  cancel  them  by  a  line  passing  through  the  letter, 
thus:   fat^if,  at/ain,  b/jifuty,  etc. 

In  applying  these  few  principles  to  the  lessons  to 
aid  the  student  to  read,  the  first  step  is  to  mark  the' 
lessons  according  to  the  above  outline  and  call  the 
attention  of  the  pupil  to  the  letter  and  its  accom- 
panying sign,  if  it  has  any,  as  the  symbol  of  tKe 
sound  uttered.    We  will  apply  it  to  lesson  one ; 


I  awak^  from  sle^p. 

I  put  on  my  stocj^ings  and 

lop^nmy^y^s.  (y  = 

:T.) 

shoes  (shoos). 

I  look  for  my  watch. 

I  wash"  myself. 

I  find  my  watch. 

I  comj/my  ha^. 

I  se^wh)lit  tim^it  is. 

I   put  on  my  co^r  and 

It  is  six  o'clock. 

n^cj^ty. 

I  must  get  up. 

I  put  on  my  vest  and  co/lt. 

I    throV    b^jf  the 

bed- 

I   op^n   the  do^r  of  my 

clothes. 

bedroom. 

I  get  out  of  l?ed. 

I  go  down  stairs. 

I  put  on  my  pants. 

*   The  teacher  in  this  lesson,  and  in  subsequent  ones, 
should  separate  the  various  letters  and  give  their 


READING  AND  WRITING  97 

sound  to  the  pupil;  so  that  he  may  associate  the 
sound  with  its  representation.  Suppose  we  take  the 
word  "awake,"  put  the  five  letters  on  five  small  cards, 
give  the  pupils  the  separate  sounds  and  then  put 
them  together  again.  Go  through  this  analysis  and 
synthesis  of  words  a  few  times  and  the  pupil  will 
soon  be  able  to  go  through  the  process,  and  it  will 
be  his  first  step  in  the  art  of  reading.  This  is  the 
rational  way  of  teaching  foreigners  how  to  read. 

Writing  is  a  mechanical  process  which  they  will 
soon  learn  by  copying  the  script  type.  The  task 
of  learning  correct  spelling  can  only  be  done  by  ac- 
customing the  eye  to  the  proper  arrangement  of  the 
letters  in  a  word,  so  that  when  the  hand  makes  a  dif- 
ferent arrangement  the  eye  will  instantly  protest. 
And  when  the  scholar  advances  so  far  that  he  can 
compose  simple  sentences  and  write  the  several  words 
correctly,  he  should  be  encouraged  to  purchase  a 
good  dictionary  and  form  the  habit  of  consulting  it 
when  the  eye  protests  against  the  labor  of  the  hand. 
Correct  spelling  will  only  come  from  extensive  prac- 
tice, and  the  ambitious  youth  should  be  aided  in 
every  possible  way  to  learn  to  spell  accurately. 

It  may  be  safe  to  say  that  the  vast  majority  of 
foreigners  anxious  to  secure  a  practical  knowledge 
of  the  English  language  will  never  become  capable 
and  correct  spellers.  It  is  worth  while,  however,  to 
give  them  a  practical  speaking  and  reading  knowl- 
edge of  English.  What  ratio  does  the  practice  of 
writing  bear  to  that  of  speaking  in  your  life  ?  What 
is  the  relative  importance  of  speaking,  reading  and 
writing  in  the  life  of  the  average  day  laborer  in 


98      ENGLISH  FOR  COMING  AMERICANS 

America?  Foreigners  will  continue  to  write  in  their 
mother  tongue.  It  is  desirable  that  they  should 
learn  to  write  correct  English,  but  it  is  of  far 
greater  importance  for  them  to  get  a  speaking  and 
a  reading  knowledge  of  our  language,  in  order  that 
they  may  in  their  industrial  and  trade  relations  be 
better  able  to  look  after  their  interests. 


CHAPTER  VIII 

HOW  TO  ORGANIZE  CLASSES 

I  HOUSANDS  of  men  possessed  with  strong 
•*•  desire  to  help  the  foreigner,  come  short  of 
actual  performance  for  the  reason  that  they  do  not 
know  how  to  go  about  the  work  of  organizing  a  class. 
My  purpose  in  this  chapter  is  to  give  a  few  practical 
hints  as  to  the  way  to  begin  the  work. 

Zeal  is  good,  but  '^^^  phis  Jcnowledge  is  better«_^ 
The  first  step  in  doing  work  for  foreigners  is  to  know 
your  town,  learn  what  people  are  your  neighbors, 
learn  something  about  them,  know  how  many  there 
are  in  the  community,  find  out  where  they  live,  how      TvAV^ 
many  secular  and  religious  organizations  are  among  ^'^^ 
them,  and  how  they  spend  their  leisure  time.     The 
ethnic  character  of  the  group  has  much  to  do  with 
the  success  or  failure  of  the  effort  to  teach  it  English. 
The    Scandinavians,    Germans,    Finns,    Esthonians, 
etc.,  are  among  the  best  of  students.     They  know  the 
value  of  education,  they  were  educated  in  their  home     (/(/\J^^ 
land,  their  minds  are  trained,  they  know  what  litera-      Q 
ture  is,  and  when  they  organize  into  a  class  to  study 
English  they  will  persevere  and  their  progress  will  be 
rapid.     A  group  of  Italian  laborers  from  southern 
Italy,  or   of  Slavs   from   the  Balkan   States,   or  of 
Hindus  from  India,  or  of  Chinese  and  Japanese,  pre- 
sents a  wholly  different  problem.     They  are  men  as 
capable  of  improvement  as  those  from  northwestern 


100     ENGLISH  FOR  COMING  AMERICANS 

Europe,  but  they  suffer  from  a  heritage  of  inefficiency 
and  sloth  in  the  pohtical  and  cultural  life  of  their 
nation,  which  will  require  more  than  one  generation 
to  slough.  We  cannot  choose  our  ancestry  but  it 
means  a  great  deal  to  a  person  to  be  born  in  a  favored 
nation.  When  these  men  from  southeastern  Europe 
come  into  a  class  it  is  to  their,  as  well  as  our,  advan- 
tage not  to  mix  them  with  men  who  have  had  previous 
educational  advantages. /-'a hey  find  the  work  hard,  * 
they  do  not  know  the  benefit  of  education,  they  are!  j 
easily  discouraged,  their  progress  is  much  slower  and//' 
the  result  more  uncertain.  Theseconditions  will  put  f  / 
the  teacher  to  the  test.  I  know  a  man  who  did  admir- 
able work  with  men  from  northwestern  Europe,  but 
when  he  began  work  for  a  group  of  backward 
Italians,  he  soon  quit  and  said,  "Wops  are  no  good.'' 
The  young  man  did  not  understand  his  new  group, 
he  did  not  adapt  himself  to  its  needs,  he  did  not  get 
the  results  he  formerly  got  and  his  rash  judgment 
was  unjust  both  to  the  Italians  arid  to  himself.  Know 
your  neighbors,  know  something  about  their  previous 
history  and  opportunity,  and  remember  that  comoiQn 
senje  and  appreciation  are  not  the  products  of 
culture,  but  qualities  planted  by  God  in  the  heart  of 
man  regardless  of  creed  or  clime. 

Sprnrp  fh^  «id  of  leaders  ^n[iga^i(L_the  foreigners . 
The  consciousness  of  kind  drives  the  foreign-speaking 
into  colonies.  They  live  a  life  wholly  distinct  from 
those  around  them.  Every  foreign  colony  in  this 
country  is  a  part  of  backward  Europe  on  our  soil. 
They  have  their  social  gatherings,  their  pleasure 
meets,  their  societies  for  self-improvement.     Get  hold 


HOW  TO  ORGANIZE- CLASSES  101, 

of  the  leader  in  these  organizations,  put  your  prop- 
osition before  him,  arrange  to  go  with  him  to  the 
meeting  when  next  the  society  convenes,  put  your 
proposition  before  the  members,  and  nine  cases  out 
of  ten  you  will  get  your  group.     I  recall  scores  of 
towns  in  which  classes  were  organized  in  this  way,  I 
can  only  remember  two  instances  where  our  efforts 
were  defeated  by  sinister  leaders.     It  is  also  a  good 
plan  to  know  where  the  men  work  and  interest  the 
foreman  and  superintendent  in  your  effort  in  their 
behalf.    A  word  from  the  captain  or  boss  or  superin- 
tendent will  go  a  great  way  to  secure  success.    Every 
American  employer  knows   that  men  who  can  talk 
English  are  worth  more  to  him  than  those  who  speak 
only  a  foreign  tongue.     Every  patriot  also  feels  that 
the   future  harmony  and  progress   of  our   country 
depend  very  much  upon  all  people,  making  America 
their  home,  having  a  common  interest  in  its  pros- 
perity, but  if  our  people  are  divided  by  forty  differ- 
ent tongues,  how  is  this  possible?     Nothing  furthers 
patriotic  sentiment  as  one  common  medium  of  com- 
munication between  the  several  members  of  the  body 
politic.    These  two  considerations  enlist  the  co-opera- 
tion of  the  leaders  in  thought  and  action  in  uplift 
work  in  behalf  of  Coming  Americans. 

Our  experience  has  also  taught  us  that  many  more 
foreigners  will  be  reached  by  taking  the  work  to. 
themy  rather  than  asking  them  tocome  from  their 
colony  to  a  place  more  suitable  to  our  taste.  Suc- 
cessful classes  have  been  conducted  in  foreign  colonies 
by  using  the  dining  room  in  a  boarding  house,  a  hall, 
a  vacant  store,  a  hall  connected  with  a  mission,  a 


10^     ENC^LISFI  FOR  COMING  AMERICANS 

vacant  house,  the  rear  room  of  a  store,  an  empty 
bam,  or  a  spare  room  in  an  industrial  plant.  Better 
results  are  realized  when  we  go  to  them  than  when  we 
ask  them  to  come  to  us.  The  foreign  colonies  or  set- 
tlements want  the  light,  and  the  warmth  of  American 
life  carried  to  them  will  be  a  benediction  they  sadly 
need.  It  is  good  to  bring  a  few  members  of  the  colony 
to  better  quarters  for  instruction  and  fellowship ;  they 
will  feel  better  when  brought  for  a  few  hours  each 
week  to  the  larger  and  freer  life  which  we  enjoy,  but 
this  will  not  saturate  the  foreign  colony  with  the 
light.  A  thousand  Americans  of  the  right  sort, 
carrying  the  light  of  love  and  truth  among  the  for- 
eigners, will  do  incalculably  more  for  their  assimila- 
tion than  ten  thousand  foreign-born  men,  led  once  or 
twice  a  week  into  sight  of  the  better  way,  and  then 
allowed  to  return  to  the  shadows  of  mediaeval  civili- 
zation. Every  backward  colony  needs  the  light  of 
twentieth  century  civilization. 

Do  not  forget  the  use  of  printer's  ink.  The  foreign 
newspaper  is  a  potent  factor  in  the  life  of  the  foreign- 
born  in  this  country.  Visjt  the  editor  of  the  local 
f6reignnewspaper.  Tell  him  your  plans,  show  him 
your  program,  ask  his  advice  about  the  work,  let  him 
see  and  understand  your  objective,  clear  his  mind  of 
suspicion  that  there  is  an  ulterior  motive,  ask  his  aid 
to  make  the  work  known  and  his  influence  to  induce 
men  to  join  the  class.  Some  of  the  most  successful 
classes  have  been  conducted  in  offices  of  newspapers, 
and  never  have  we  met  an  editor  of  a  foreign  news- 
paper who  did  not  sympathize  with  the  effort  to  help 
Coming  Americans. 


HOW  TO  ORGANIZE  CLASSES  103 

The  best  work  also  is  done  with  a  small  group. 
Our  system  of  teaching  English  can  be  used  in  a  class 
of  fifty  men,  but  it  would  be  better  to  divide  such  a 
class  into  five  groups  and  give  each  a  teacher.  Such 
an  arrangement  would  secure  groups  more  uniform  as 
to  capacity  and  previous  culture  and  the  teacher 
would  get  much  nearer  to  the  lives  of  the  members  of 
his  group.  Facility  in  the  use  of  a  thousand  English 
words  will  be  of  great  value  to  every  foreign-speak- 
ing immigrant  coming  into  our  country,  but  the 
personal  touch  of  a  patriotic  soul  instinct  with  Chris- 
tian virtues  will  be  of  incalculably  more  value  to  him. 
One  cannot  imagine  a  more  practical  service  in  home 
missions  or  in  settlement  work  in  cities  than  the 
enlisting  of  Christian  laymen  in  every  community 
where  foreigners  live,  to  lead  these  men  into  American 
ways  and  standards. 

When  you  have  made  arrangements  to  start  work, 
be  sure  to  be  on  hand  ready  for  busmess.  When  an 
earnest  Christian  worker  and  myself  were  on  our  way 
to  meet  a  group  of  Poles  who  promised  to  come  to  a 
dark  hall  in  an  alley,  my  friend  said,  "I'm  afraid 
they  won't  come."  It  was  a  dark  night  and  none 
were  seen  around  the  hall  when  we  went  in  and 
lighted  the  lamps,  but  in  ten  minutes  more  than  fifty 
men  crowded  the  building.  We  were  there  on  time, 
we  had  our  program  carefully  prepared,  we  felt  that 
we  had  something  to  give  the  men,  and  that  group 
did  excellent  work  that  winter.  Be  definite.  Don't 
beat  the  air.  The  foreigner  will  not  stand  chafF. 
They  will  form  a  very  accurate  idea  of  you  the  first 
night,   and  it  is  well  for  you  to  be  at  your  best. 


104    ENGLISH  FOR  COMING  AMERICANS 

Resolve  to  make  it  worth  while  for  the  men  to  come 
out  to  meet  you.  A  few  may  have  come  because  of 
curiosity,  but  the  major  part  of  the  group  will  be 
men  in  earnest  with  their  faces  toward  American 
citizenship  and  they  will  appreciate  the  help  you  can 
give. 

Don't  be  discouraged  if  the  men  are  not  up  to  your 
expectation  in  cleanliness,  respQnsiyeness__and  capa- 
city. ^Trecept  upon  precept,  line  upon  line"  will  tell, 
if  back  of  all  there  is  a  heart  that  loves  the  foreign- 
born  brother.  The  sculptor  who  deals  blow  after 
blow  upon  the  marble  block  brings  out  the  angel  and 
he  must  not  be  in  a  hurry  else  he  may  mar  the  visage 
he  sees.  The  wise  teacher  who  expects  to  convert  the 
raw  material  of  backward  Europe  into  Coming 
Americans  must  not  be  impatient.  Niagara  un- 
harnessed is  a  thing  of  terror;  harnessed  it  means 
service,  comfort  and  luxury  to  thousands.  The  men 
who  are  to  transform  the  aliens  of  America  into  use- 
ful citizens  are  the  men  who  are  patient,  trained  and 
sympathetic — men  who  are  yoked  to  the  Christian 
ideal  of  service. 

We  should  also  remember  that  a  class  for  for- 
eigners will  not  run  itself.  Nothing  worth  while  runs 
itself.  You  must  keep  in  close  touch  with  the  men 
and  if  they  do  not  turn  up  of  an  evening  drap  them 
a  postal.  If  they  keep  away  two  nights  in  succession, 
call  to  see  them.  Plan  some  amusements  for  the  men, 
it  may  be  the  only  enjoyment  they  have  had  with  real 
Americans  since  arriving  in  the  country.  Give  them 
a  good  time  once  in  a  while ;  they  are  human  and  like 
to  laugh  occasionally  just  the  same  as  we.    If  several 


HOW  TO  ORGANIZE  CLASSES  105 

classes  are  run  in  the  same  city,  a  co-ordinating 
power  ought  to  supervise  the  whole  and  see  that 
every  class  and  every  teacher  is  doing  the  work  as  it 
should  be  done.  When  the  trolley  leaves  the  wire  the 
car  stops.  See  that  the  motive  power  in  each  centre 
is  right. 


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